ZrB2-SiC coating to protect carbon/carbon composites against ablation

Xu Zou, Qiangang Fu, Lei Liu, Hejun Li, Yongjie Wang, Xiyuan Yao, Zibo He

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

103 Scopus citations

Abstract

To improve the ablation resistance of carbon/carbon (C/C) composites, a ZrB2-SiC coating was prepared by pack-cementation. The phase composition, microstructure and element distribution of the coating were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The coated sample exhibits a dense structure and has an outstanding ablation property. During exposure to the oxyacetylene flame at about 2000K for 40s, the coated sample had a linear ablation rate of 4.4×10-3mm/s and a mass ablation rate of 6.2×10-5g/s. Compared with the uncoated C/C composites, the linear and mass ablation rate decreased by 49% and 97%, respectively. During the oxyacetylene torch test, a silica-scale glass was generated on the surface of the coating, and the embed ZrO2 could provide pinning effect to avoid cracking and spalling of the silica-scale glass. After the ablation test, some silica nanowires (SiONWs) were found in the ablation edge region of the sample. The growth mechanism of SiONWs consists of oxide-assisted growth (OAG) and vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) formation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17-21
Number of pages5
JournalSurface and Coatings Technology
Volume226
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Jul 2013

Keywords

  • Ablation
  • Carbon/carbon composites
  • Coating
  • Nanowires

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