3D woven near-net-shape preforms for CMC airfoils

Silke Grosch; Daniela Albert; Christian Eckardt; Ralf Herborn; Heiko Ziebold; Aurelia Bauer; Recep Türkay Kocaman; Frank Ficker

doi:10.25367/cdatp.2025.6.p170-179

Authors

Silke Grosch Fraunhofer ISC, Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL, Bayreuth, Germany https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8012-8947
Daniela Albert Fraunhofer ISC, Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL, Bayreuth, Germany
Christian Eckardt Fraunhofer ISC, Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL, Bayreuth, Germany https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7027-0112
Ralf Herborn Fraunhofer ISC, Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL, Bayreuth, Germany https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0536-4853
Heiko Ziebold Fraunhofer ISC, Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL, Bayreuth, Germany
Aurelia Bauer Institute for Materials Science, Hof University of Applied Sciences, Münchberg, Germany
Recep Türkay Kocaman Institute for Materials Science, Hof University of Applied Sciences, Münchberg, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9174-1597
Frank Ficker Fraunhofer ISC, Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL, Bayreuth, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7166-3640

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25367/cdatp.2025.6.p170-179

Keywords:

CMC, Ceramic Matrix Composites, Preform, 3D weaving

Abstract

Traditionally, high-density metallic airfoils are used in aircraft engines. Ceramic materials are much lighter and can operate at higher temperatures. However, as a monolithic material, they are not suitable for high reliability applications due to excessive brittle fracture behavior. By reinforcing ceramics with ceramic fiber structures, it is possible to increase fracture toughness and damage tolerance significantly. These CMC (Ceramic Matrix Composites) are one of the materials of the future due to their high strength, dynamic load capacity, thermal shock resistance and resistance to aggressive media in the high-temperature range. An efficient production of the textile preforms, which are required for CMC parts, is a prerequisite to bring them into widespread industrial use. This article describes the development of near-net-shape, load-path 3D woven structures made of ceramic materials that can be mass-produced on industrial equipment and optimally comply with the subsequent process of ceramic matrix insertion. Based on the simulation of two assumed load cases, the optimum structural design is determined. A multi-layer structure of the base fabric is used to achieve the required component thickness of 2-3 mm. In iterative infiltration tests, the optimum structure for the matrix injection is found using a pressure-assisted infiltration technique.

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