Discover the Cesic^® technologie

Cesic^®

Our ceramic material is "carbon-fiber reinforced silicon carbide" or "Cesic^®," which consists of a matrix of silicon carbide (SiC) reinforced with microscopic carbon fibers of various compositions and lengths. The material is characterized by exceptional hardness and stiffness, high thermal conductivity, a low coefficient of thermal expansion down to cryogenic temperatures, and a relatively high fracture toughness (due to the C-fibers). Furthermore, the manufacture of Cesic^® components is quick and cost-competitive, and can be adapted to designs of virtually any complexity.

By varying the composition of the carbon fibers, their lengths, their orientation, and the degree of conversion of carbon to SiC, we are able to change the material's properties, such as the degree of isotropy, strength/stiffness in specific directions, resistance to high temperatures and high abrasion, and fracture toughness.

This manufacturing versatility allows us to tailor Cesic^® components to the requirements of specific applications and justifies the characterization, "engineered ceramic materials."

Material properties

• Very high specific stiffness, high strength associated to high stiffening and lightweighting manufacturing capability,
• Offer high integrated solution, complex monolithic structure, screwed assemblies,
• Large mechanical dimensional stability (no residual deformation)
• Very high thermal conductivity, Low coefficient of thermal expansion, Zero CTE from 100 k to 4 K

Application

• Large, stiff and extreme stable structures
• Focal planes with a high number of CCD detectors
• Monolithic instrument structures
• High gain antenna (working in ultimate thermal environment)
• Large lightweight mirrors (IR to near UV )
• Full Cesic^® telescopes