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LITHOEN

Manufacturing process

Reactive melt infiltration

Also known as RMI, melt infiltration, reactive metal infiltration

A process in which a molten metal such as silicon or zirconium is drawn into a porous preform and reacts with carbon or boron there to form a ceramic matrix. It is fast and dense but exposes the fibres to aggressive melts.

Classification

matrix families
CERAMIC

How this record is known

3
Settled consensus
Cited as the accepted position of the discipline.

3 of 3 claims on this page cite at least one registered source. Counts describe how each statement is known, not how likely it is to be true.

What Lithoen records

Each claim states how it is known and cites its evidence.

EstablishedFast, low-cost, near-fully-dense route; commercialised for SiC/SiC.

Reactive melt infiltration gives a near fully dense matrix faster and more cheaply than most ceramic-matrix composite routes, near net shape, and closed surface porosity that can make an oxidation-resistant coating unnecessary; it is the route commercialised for mass production of SiC/SiC composites.

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, multiple sources, independence unknown

Evidence: Jon 2020 Peer-reviewed; Ruize 2025 Peer-reviewed

EstablishedAggressive melts attack fibres; residual unreacted metal.

Reactive melt infiltration exposes the fibres to very aggressive molten metals, often above 1400 °C, with further local heating from the exothermic reaction; incomplete reaction can leave residual metal in the matrix, causing residual stress and lowering creep resistance, and excess melt attacking carbon fibres reduces mechanical properties.

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 2 sources, multiple sources, independence unknown

Evidence: Jon 2020 Peer-reviewed; Ruize 2025 Peer-reviewed

EstablishedMolten metal infiltrates a porous preform and reacts with carbon or boron to form the matrix.

In reactive melt infiltration a molten metal — silicon for silicon carbide matrices, zirconium or hafnium for ultra-high temperature ceramic matrices — is drawn by capillary action into a porous fibre preform containing carbon or boron, with which it reacts to form the ceramic matrix in a single, non-iterative step; for SiC matrices the silicon reacts with carbon at about 1700 °C.

  • precision note: About 1700 °C is the temperature one review gives for silicon infiltration; it is carried in the statement and not published as a quantity.

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence 4 sources, multiple sources, independence unknown

Evidence: Jon 2020 Peer-reviewed; Ruize 2025 Peer-reviewed; Bisma 2022 Peer-reviewed; A. 2002 Primary authority

In the knowledge graph

Record last updated 2026-10-30. Corrections follow the published corrections policy; superseded claims are retained, never silently edited.