Mechanical behaviour of 2D-C-C/TiC composites made from a 2D-C-C preform densified with TiC by CVI

Abstract

Compression testing has been performed on 2D-C-C/TiC ceramic/ceramic composites made from a stack of carbon fibre fabrics consolidated by pyrocarbon and densified by TiC using chemical vapour infiltration. The load was applied either parallel (para) or perpendicular (ortho) to the carbon fabric layers, and the compression behaviour of the materials was studied as a function of the TiC volume fraction and thus of the residual porosity. The composites are found to exhibit partly linear elastic and partly inelastic behaviour in both load directions, the extent of the elastic region increasing with increasing TiC densification. Failure modes of the composites are also discussed.