DETERMINATION OF PIROCARBON MATRIX CHARACTERISTICS IN CARBON/CARBON COMPOSITES

Abstract

One of the methods of carbon/carbon composites (C/C composites) production is the deposition of a pyrocarbon (pyC) matrix in a porous preform. The investigation of the pyC matrix characteristics is based on the optical anisotropy with determination of the extinction angle Ae and X-ray diffraction determination of the interplanar spacing d002, crystallite size in the direction of stacking of graphite layers Lc and average size of graphite planes parallel layer in crystallites La. In this study, three previously produced by the thermal gradient method with different parameters specimens of C/C composites were investigated by optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction methods. The studied specimens have a different type of a texture and different structural characteristics of the pyC matrix. Extinction angle Ae for specimen 1, specimen 2 and 3 was 5°, 19° and 41°, respectively. The range of the extinction angle for the pyC matrix is wider than that presented in literature. And according to the classification of pyC the matrix of specimen 1, specimen 2 and 3 is dark laminar pyC, rough laminar pyC and highly textured pyC. For specimen 2 the largest d002 equal to 0.3476 nm was observed. The lowest degree of three-dimensional ordering relative other specimens was for the specimen 2 with rough laminar pyC matrix. The highest degree of three-dimensional ordering was for the specimen 3 with highly textured pyC matrix. However, there is no direct relationship between the textural and structural characteristics of the pyC matrix. Therefore, the study of the pyC matrix should be based on optical and X-ray diffraction methods.