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Oxidation behaviour and residual mechanical properties of carbon/carbon composites

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Abstract

Carbon/carbon composites are widely used in re-entry engineering applications thanks to their excellent mechanical properties at high temperatures, but they are easily oxidized in the oxygenated atmosphere. It is important to research their residual mechanical properties influenced by oxidation behaviour, in order to ensure the in-service safety. A microscale degradation model is proposed to predict the oxidation behavior based on the mass conservation and diffusion equations, the derived equivalent steady recession rate of composite is employed to evaluate the residual mechanical properties of the oxidized composite theoretically. A numerical strategy is proposed to investigate the oxidation mechanism of this composite. The differences in the degradation rate between the fiber and the matrix resulted in the steady state and an unchanged shape of the front. Residual mechanical properties of composite with three different domains of oxidation were simulated with a multiscale coupled model. The numerical results demonstrated that the mechanical properties of this composite decreased by 24–32% after oxidation for 30 min at 850 °C. Oxidation also caused the stress redistribution inside components, with the stress concentration diminishing their load-bearing capacity. The local areas of increased stress in the pyrocarbon matrix provided new ways for diffusion of oxygen into the pyrocarbon matrix and fibers.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

C/C:

Carbon/carbon

CNT:

Carbon nanotube

DSC:

Differential scanning caborimetry

RVE:

Representative volume element

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

TGA:

Thermo-gravimetric analysis

\(A\) :

Dimensionless number

\(C\) :

Partial pressure

\(c_{{\text{f}}}^{{\text{t}}}\) :

Residual volume fraction of fiber

\(c_{m}^{t}\) :

Residual volume fraction of matrix

\(D\) :

Bulk diffusion coefficient

\({\text{Da}}_{{\text{m}}}\) :

Damkohler number

\(E_{11}^{t}\) :

Longitudinal elastic modulus of composite

\(E_{11}^{f}\) :

Longitudinal elastic modulus of fiber

\(E_{22}^{f}\) :

Transverse elastic modulus of fiber

\(E_{{\text{m}}}\) :

Elastic modulus of pyrocarbon matrix

\(f,m,b\) :

Indices for fiber, matrix and bundle

\(h_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Height of fiber

\(h_{{\text{m}}}\) :

Height of matrix

\(J_{{\text{e}}}\) :

Molar rate of ablation

\(J_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Oxidation molar rate of fiber

\(k_{{\text{e}}}\) :

Reactivity of oxidation

\(k_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Gasification rate of fiber

\(k_{{\text{m}}}\) :

Gasification rate of matrix

\(l_{0}^{{\text{f}}}\) :

Initial length of fiber

\(l_{0}^{{\text{m}}}\) :

Initial length of matrix

\(M\) :

Total mass of composite

\(n_{{\text{f}}} ,n_{{\text{m}}}\) :

Oxidation ratios of fiber and matrix

\(r_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Radius of fiber

\(R_{0}^{{\text{f}}}\) :

Initial radius of fiber

\(R_{10}^{{\text{m}}}\) :

Initial external radius of matrix

\(R_{20}^{{\text{m}}}\) :

Initial inside radius of matrix

\(R_{{1{\text{t}}}}^{{\text{m}}}\) :

Residual external radius of matrix

\(R_{2t}^{m}\) :

Residual inside radius of matrix

\(S_{f}\) :

Exposed surface of fiber

\(S_{m}\) :

Exposed surface of matrix

\(t\) :

Oxidation time

\(t_{{\text{s}}}^{{\text{f}}}\) :

Minimum oxidation period for fiber

\(v_{{\text{a}}}\) :

Ablation velocity

\(v_{0}^{{\text{f}}} ,\;v_{0}^{{\text{m}}}\) :

Initial volume fractions of fiber and matrix

\(v_{{\text{t}}}^{{\text{f}}} ,\;v_{{\text{t}}}^{{\text{m}}}\) :

Residual volume fractions of fiber and matrix

\(x,y,z\) :

Coordinates

\(\alpha_{1}^{{\text{f}}}\) :

Longitudinal oxidation rate of fiber

\(\alpha_{2}^{f}\) :

Radial oxidation rate of fiber

\(\beta_{1}\) :

Longitudinal oxidation rate of matrix

\(\beta_{{{\text{out}}}}\) :

Oxidation rate for outside radius in matrix

\(\beta_{{{\text{in}}}}\) :

Oxidation rate for inside radius in matrix

\(\zeta\) :

Characteristic length of ablation

\(\Omega_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Solid molar volume of fiber

\(\Omega_{{\text{m}}}\) :

Solid molar volume of matrix

\(\rho_{{\text{f}}} ,\rho_{{\text{m}}}\) :

Densities of fiber and matrix

\(\sigma_{{{\text{res}}}}\) :

Residual longitudinal strength of fiber

\(\sigma_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Initial longitudinal strength of fiber

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Acknowledgements

This work is partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.12102152) and the State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) (Grant No. MCMS-E-0221Y02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China

    Meng Han & Qinsheng Bi

  2. State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, People’s Republic of China

    Chuwei Zhou

  3. Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough, LE11 3TU, Leicestershire, UK

    Vadim V. Silberschmidt

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  1. Meng Han
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Correspondence to Meng Han.

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Han, M., Zhou, C., Silberschmidt, V.V. et al. Oxidation behaviour and residual mechanical properties of carbon/carbon composites. Carbon Lett. 33, 1241–1252 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-023-00491-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42823-023-00491-6

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