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Damage behavior and mechanism of C/C-SiC composite ablated under different environments

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Abstract

C/C-SiC composite has superior performance and widespread applications while its serving temperature is limited to about 1650 °C because of the matrix’s active oxidation. In this paper, zirconium silicide was introduced into the matrix of C/C-SiC composite and a matrix modified C/C-SiC composite was produced using Si–Zr-alloyed reactive melt infiltration. Ablation resistance and behavior of the modified composite were evaluated using an oxyacetylene torch in the oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich environments. It was found that the environment had great impact on the ablation resistance of the composites. The composite presented obviously improved ablation resistance in the oxygen-poor environment compared with that in the oxygen-rich environment. A continuous layer of ZrO2 was generated on the composite’s ablated surface tested in oxygen-poor environment, acting as a protecting layer to avoid the subsequent severe damage. Conversely, the composite tested in oxygen-rich environment was severely ablated and a deep pit was produced on the ablated surface with a discontinuous layer composed of ZrSiO4, ZrO2, and SiO2 without sufficient protection. The damage mechanism of the composites under different environments was discussed. The damage of the composite tested in the oxygen-poor environment was dominated by the oxidation erosion and evaporation of the SiO2 phase, while the composite’s damage tested in the oxygen-rich environment is mainly contributed to the oxidation erosion and blowing away of the liquid ZrO2, ZrSiO4, and SiO2.

Graphical abstract

The macro morphologies and XRD analysis of C/C-SiC composite after ablation tests in (a) oxygen poor and (b) oxygen rich environments.

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Funding

Sponsorship was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52005053 and 11902333) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province of China (Nos. 2019JJ50657 and 2018JJ2426).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Automobile and Mechanical Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, China

    Yonggang Tong, Ziyi Ren, Yongle Hu, Peng Zhang & Manyu Hua

  2. National Institute of Defense Technology Innovation, Academy of Military Sciences PLA China, Beijing, China

    Xiubing Liang & Yongxiong Chen

  3. Hypervelocity Aerodynamics Institute, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang, China

    Lingwei Yang

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  1. Yonggang Tong
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  2. Ziyi Ren
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  3. Yongle Hu
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  4. Peng Zhang
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  6. Yongxiong Chen
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  7. Lingwei Yang
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Correspondence to Yonggang Tong, Yongle Hu or Xiubing Liang.

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Tong, Y., Ren, Z., Hu, Y. et al. Damage behavior and mechanism of C/C-SiC composite ablated under different environments. Adv Compos Hybrid Mater 5, 1433–1438 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-021-00387-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-021-00387-x

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