M. Awaad and S.M. Naga Ceramics Dept., National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt T. Khalifa Textile Dept., Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt P. Greil and O. Russina Dept. of Material Science, University of Erlangen-Nuenberg, Erlangen, Germany N.A. Ibrahim Textile Research Div., National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt ost continuous-fiber ceramic composite systems (CFCCs) are based on SiC fibers with either oxide or non-oxide matrices. SiC-based systems have durability limitations. Therefore, interest in all-oxide CFCCs has increased. 1 All-oxide CFCCs are immune to oxidation. They have been increasingly explored during the past decade. 2–5 CFCCs with suitably tailored interfaces exhibit inelastic deformation characteristics. Therefore, they retain strength in the pres- ence of holes and notches. 6 Damage toler- ances and inherent refractoriness of CFCCs have enabled them to emerge as candi- dates for many high-temperature structural applications, such as combustors. 7 Levi et al. 5 have developed an all-oxide ceramic composite based on a stable matrix that consists of mullite and alumi- na mixtures in combination with poly- crystalline alumina–mullite fibers. They have manufactured the composite using conventional slurry infiltration methods. The mechanical performance of the pro- duced materials is comparable with that of other fiber-dominated CFCCs, such as SiC/carbon and carbon/carbon. The important advantages of carbon-matrix materials are their superior oxidative sta- bility and creep response. Mattoni et al. 8 have demonstrated that the properties of porous-matrix CFCCs are sensitive to the level and distribution of matrix porosity. As the matrix porosity decreases, the tensile strength and dam- age tolerance decrease and the extent of M ©The American Ceramic Society American Ceramic Society Bulletin www.ceramicbulletin.org April 2005 9101 Fiber-Reinforced Alumina-Based Composites Using Nonwoven Cellulose Fabrics ADVANCED CERAMICS Fibrous alumina has been fabricated using vacuum infiltration of aqueous alumina slurry into two-dimensional nonwoven cellulose fabric. Figure 2 Homogeneous alumina grains. Figure 4 Native textile randomly distributed fibers. Figure 5 Native textile different morphology