A polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) process model for ceramic matrix composites (CMCs)

Abstract This work describes a physics‐based model to simulate the polymer infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) manufacturing process for ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). Models have been developed to characterize volumetric distribution of constituents and track porosity inside the composite at different PIP stages utilizing test data from TGA and DSC characterization of a commercial preceramic polymer. Laboratory experiments were done using C/SiC CMC specimens manufactured with a variable number of PIP cycles in order to obtain inputs for the models, and the analytical results have been shown to agree with porosity determined from physical measurements.