Design and Optimization of TG-CVI Heater

TG-CVI용 히터 형상설계 및 최적화

Thermal gradient chemical vapor infiltration (TG-CVI) process, which is one of the CVI techniques to densify a porous fiber preform, requires for a heater to have uniform surface temperature distribution. Thus, it is essential to design the shape of the heater and to predict the temperature distribution when the heater has a profile which is not a simple cylinder. In this study, an analytical method has been used to design the inner profile of a conical heater showing uniform temperature distribution, if its outer shape is specified. Temperature distribution on the heater surface has been calculated with the finite difference method and compared with the experimental results. When a heater had a combined profile with a large cone and a small cylinder, temperature was higher in the cylindrical part. To reduce the temperature difference between these areas, a hole-machining method has been proposed including other possible ones. A shape design and optimization program has been made to improve the temperature uniformity of the TG-CVI heater better than that designed with the analytical method.