Residual stresses in boron/tungsten and boron/carbon fibers

Longitudinal residual stress distribution is determined for 102-micron diam B/W and B/C fibers. The 102-micron diam B/W fibers are deposited on a 12.7-micron diam tungsten wire resistively heated in a BCl3-H2 reactor. The 102-micron diam B/C fibers are made by deposition of boron on a pyrolytic graphite-coated carbon fiber. The longitudinal residual stress distribution is calculated from measurements of the change in length of the fiber produced by removal of the surface through electropolishing. It is found that for both types of fibers, the residual stress vary from a compressive stress at the surface to a tensile stress in the boron near the core. Closer to the core and in the core, significant differences in the residual stresses are observed for the B/W and B/C fibers.