ABSTRACT
Many researchers have developed various inorganic fibers for developing composite materials with light weight and high fracture toughness. The inorganic fibers includes glass fiber, carbon fiber, metal oxide fibers, boron-based fiber, single crystalline fibers, eutectic oxide fiber, silicon carbide (SiC) from chemical vapor deposition-based fiber, and polymer-derived SiC-based fibers. This chapter describes the historical points of inorganic fibers and important things for the development of heat-resistant inorganic fibers. It introduces several types of functional ceramic fibers, which were developed making the best use of the inorganic fibers. The chapter shows that the historical point of each inorganic fiber and refers to the prospect for the future technology of inorganic fibers. Carbon fiber was used as fiber-reinforced plastics in structural materials making the best use of its light weight and high strength. For the purpose of achieving an increase in the high-temperature strength, a eutectic fiber consisting of interpenetrating phases of alpha-alumina and yttrium-aluminum-garnet was developed.
