Gas permeability of SiC/SiC composites as fusion reactor material

Permeability of helium gas in SiC/SiC composites material, which is one of the most important properties in application of SiC/SiC composite for first wall and blanket of fusion reactors, was studied by using a vacuum apparatus. Three tubular and two flat plate SiC/SiC composites were prepared by different preparation processes. The measurement of permeability coefficient of helium gas was carried out with pressure ranging from 10(2) to 10(5) Pa at room temperature. The permeability coefficient of the SiC/SiC composite largely depended on the preparation method. In three tubular materials, the SiC/SiC composite made by both polymer impregnation and pyrolysis (PIP) and melt infiltration (MI) methods showed the lowest permeability, 9.1 x 10(-7) m(2)/s, which was approximately two orders of magnitude smaller than one of the material made only by PIP method. The permeability of the flat plate SiC/SiC composites made by both liquid phase sintering (LPS) and hot pressing (HP) was approximately 1.5 x 10(-9) -4.0 x 10(-11) m(2)/s. The difference of permeability was related to the microscopic structure, i.e. pores and cracks. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.