Ablation of advanced C/C-ZrC-SiC leading edge composites

To mitigate interphase degradation and improve the mechanical and ablation properties of leading edge shaped C/C-ZrC-SiC composites fabricated by reactive melt infiltration, a tailored SiC-C interphase composed of SiC, gas pyrolysis carbon and phenolic resin pyrolysis char was introduced. The SiC-C interphase can effectively protect the carbon fiber from high-temperature melt erosion, improving the flexural strength of the composites by 98%. The mass and thickness change rates of the leading edge composites were 2.96 ± 0.04 µm/s and − 0.42 ± 0.04 mg/s, respectively. The better ablation performance was attributed to the synergistic effect of dense and stabilized Zr-Si-O oxide layer formation and heat transfer.