A new method to improve the laser-ablation resistance of Si-SiC coating on C/C composites: Laser cladding

New method to prepare Si-SiC coating on C/C composites by laser cladding (LC-Si-SiC) was established to improve the laser ablation resistance of the coating. Results showed that the LC-Si-SiC coating had lower roughness, better mechanical properties and superior laser-ablation resistance compared with the Si-SiC coating fabricated by the traditional coating preparation process: pack cementation (PC-Si-SiC). Due to the shorter heat treatment and less Si infiltration, the flexural strength of the LC-Si-SiC coated sample was 111.32 MPa, which was 144% higher than that of the PC-Si-SiC coated sample. Confirmed by finite element simulation, the LC-Si-SiC coating exhibited better laser-ablation resistance because of the “sweating cooling” mechanism. Under 23.89 MW∙m⁻² ablation for 7 s, the surface temperature of the LC-Si-SiC coated sample was 3046 K, which was 157 K lower than that of the PC-Si-SiC, causing the mass loss rate of the LC-Si-SiC coating (0.10%) was only 45.45% of the PC-Si-SiC coating.