Thermal shock behaviour of SiC-fibre-reinforced glasses

Abstract

The preparation of two SiC-fibre-reinforced glasses with very different thermal expansion coefficients and glass transition temperatures is described and the influence of long-time temperature and thermal shock behaviour of these composites on the mechanical properties is investigated by means of bending test experiments before and after thermal treatments. It will be shown from experiments and calculations on stresses due to thermal expansion mismatch between fibre and glass matrix that not only best mechanical properties but also best thermal shock behaviour are connected with low tensile intrinsic stresses produced by thermal expansion mismatch during preparation. The thermal shock resistance of the best composite (SiC fibre/DURAN glass) does not show a significant decrease of flexural strength even after 60 shocks from 550 to 25 °C in water, while the bulk glass sample of the same dimension was destroyed by one thermal shock from 350 °C.