A Multiscale Modeling Approach for the Prediction of the Mechanical Properties of C/SiC Composites Fabricated by the CVI Process

A multiscale modeling approach is proposed to investigate the mechanical properties of carbon fiber/silicon carbide (C/SiC) composites fabricated by chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process. First, reactive molecular dynamics simulations are conducted to estimate the mechanical properties of the SiC matrix fabricated via CVI. Subsequently, a two-level micromechanics-based homogenization is developed to account for the effects of various constituents (e.g., porosity and carbon fiber) on the mechanical properties of the C/SiC composites. A series of numerical parametric studies is performed to examine the influence of the model parameters on the mechanical properties of the C/SiC composites. In addition, experimental investigations, including tensile tests and scanning electron microscopy, are conducted to validate the proposed modeling approach. The results indicate that the proposed modeling approach provides predictions that are in good agreement with the experimental results, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed modeling scheme.