Abstract
Fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites have been known for its high strength, low density and high toughness. Ceramic composites provide tailored properties by changing the fiber reinforcing manner and designing proper matrix microstructure. During the past decade, numbers of articles have been reported on the investigation of mechanical properties, fabrications, modeling and applications. The C/SiC composite material possesses superior mechanical properties and high oxidation resistance leading to an important role in high temperatureapplications,for example, high-temperature oven, space plane, etc. Drilling is among the most frequently used machining methods needed for parts production in industrial applications. Since C/SiC composite material is hard and brittle, ultrasonic drilling is considered suitable for the material. In ultrasonic drilling, the material is removed primarily by the association of fracture induced from the hammering of hard abrasive grains. The abrasive particles are excited by the tool vibrating at ultrasonic frequency, e.g. 20KHz, and amplitude of tens of micrometers. A continuous flow of the abrasive slurry flushes away the chips removed in the process. Ultrasonic drilling effectively reduces the concerns often encountered in drilling of composite materials, such as delamination, fiber pullout, microcracking and burrs. Besides, it induces no thermal, chemical, electrical or metallurgical threat to the workpiece. In this paper, the processing and ultrasonic drilling of C/SiC composite material are discussed. The mechanical properties and microstructure of the obtained C/SiC composite material are evaluated. The machining quality varying with the machining parameters is investigated.