Preparation and ablation properties of SiC nanowire-reinforced ZrC–SiC coating-matrix integrated C/C composites

Abstract

A modification of the precursor infiltration pyrolysis (PIP) method was explored to prepare the integrated doped ceramic matrix and coating by the added SiC nanowires layer and shape-stabilization process. The epitaxial layer of SiC nanowires provided surficial attachments for the precursor. And the shape-stabilization process aggregated loose ceramic particles into a coating. Then the SiC nanowire-reinforced ZrC–SiC coating-matrix integrated C/C (S/SZ-CZ/C) composite was simply prepared by the modified PIP method. The bonding strength between the coating and matrix of the S/SZ-CZ/C composite was improved. Through the ablation test, the mass and linear ablation rate of the S/SZ-CZ/C composite were 0.46 mg/s and 0.67 μm/s, which were 60.34 % and 74.91 % lower than those of the SiC nanowire-reinforced C/C–ZrC (S/CZ/C) composite, respectively. The integration of the coating and matrix enabled the formation of a continuous oxide layer of molten SiO2 and ZrO2 in the ablation process, which helped to block the oxygen and heat during the ablation test. Thus the ablation resistance of the materials was systematically and effectively improved.