UHTC coating reinforced by HfC nanowires against ablation for C/C composites

To improve the ablation resistance of the coated carbon/carbon composites, HfC nanowires acting as reinforcement materials were introduced into ZrB₂-SiC/SiC multilayer coating. Synthesis, morphology, mechanical properties and ablation resistance of the coating were researched. A porous HfC nanowire layer was uniformly covered on SiC coating. Both of the toughness and interface bonding strength of ZrB₂-SiC coating with HfC nanowires were higher than those of the coating without HfC nanowires. HfC nanowires could effectively inhibit the cracking and peeling of outer coating during ablation. After oxyacetylene torch ablation for 90 s, the mass ablation rate of the coated sample without and with HfC nanowires was 0.20 mg/s and − 0.12 mg/s, respectively.