Preparation and Properties of 2D C/SiC-TaC Composites

Abstract

Ultra high temperature ceramic matrix composites (UHTCC) are being considered as the most promising materials for leading edge and nose cap of hypersonic spacecrafts, reusable space vehicles and so on. In the paper, 2D carbon fiber cloth reinforced silicon carbide-tantalum carbide (2D SiC-TaC) UHTCC was fabricated by slurry-pasting and precursor infiltration pyrolysis process (PIP). Influences of the volume ratio (10, 20, 30, 60, 80 and 100%) of TaC powder on mechanical properties and ablative resistance of 2D C/SiC-TaC composites were studied. The results showed that the relative density of composites with 60vol% TaC powder was the highest, the flexural strength of the composites reached 356MPa and the mass loss rate and recession rate were 0.0116g/s and 0.026mm/s respectively, while those of C/SiC composites were 0.0166g/s and 0.062mm/s respectively. Moreover, the higher TaC powder content, the smaller the fracture toughness of the composites was. The fracture toughness of the 2D C/SiC-TaC composites with 100vol% TaC powder was only 8.69 MPa-m1/2, while that of C/SiC composites was over 15.0 MPa-m1/2.