Modeling the effects of reactor inlet configuration on isothermal CVI process of C/SiC composites

Two comparative models were proposed to simulate the effects of the reactor configuration on the isothermal chemical vapor infiltration (ICVI) process of C/SiC composites. The difference in the two models is that there is an expansion zone near the reactor inlet in one model while no expansion zone exists in another model. Calculation results show that the existence of the expansion zone has rather negligible effects on the ICVI process. It is accordingly suggested that the simplification of the reactor configuration by neglecting the expansion zone of the reactor is reasonable and acceptable for the ICVI process of C/SiC composites.