Investigation of mechanical properties of 2D C/C composites filled with different fillers

The variation of mechanical properties of 2D CVI carbon/carbon composites, filled respectively with pyrolytic carbon, graphite and SiC powders, was investigated. The changing mechanisms of material properties, such as flexural strength, tension strength, modulus and mode II interlaminar crack extension energy, were discussed in detail. It is concluded that all those three fillers take effect on carbon/carbon composites in reducing the material strength. However, the pyrolytic carbon or graphite powder reinforces the interlaminar bond of carbon/carbon composites remarkably. Due to the similarity with carbon matrix in crystal structures, the pyrolytic carbon filler has the most notable improvement on interlaminar bond, the least loss of strength, and furthermore it introduces the brittle flexural feature into C/C materials. Therefore, filling pyrolytic carbon powder is a new efficient way to reinforce the interfaces between laminars in 2D C/C composites.