Hexcel Corpation

Hoover Larry Ng

Milton F Custer

Ceramic honeycomb (32) is made by applying adhesive (10) to parts of node regions (6) of a stack (12) of ceramic fabrics (2) to bond adjacent fabrics to one another at nodes (20) defined by the adhesive. The ceramic fabric stack is expanded and then impregnated in a ceramic matrix. The impregnated stack (18), dried to be self-supporting but still flexible, can be kiln-fired at this point or it can be encapsulated in an encapsulant (26) such as polyvinyl alcohol. The encapsulated stack (24) is then autoclaved at 100 psi and 185.degree. F. causing the matrix binder to set, thus rigidifying the encapsulated fabric stack. Autoclaving also causes the fabric at the nodes to squeeze together to create intimate contact, and thus high strength bonds during subsequent firing, between the fabrics at the nodes. The encapsulated stack is fired to drive off non-ceramic material to create the ceramic honeycomb. The minimum bending radius of the ceramic fibers at the nodes can be increased using one or more methods.

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Oakland, CA, United States of America

Hoover Larry Ng