Quasi-static and dynamic compressive behaviors of porous ZrC ceramic reinforced pyrocarbon composites

To explore the effect of the strain rates on ZrC/C composites, their interface evolution, impact behavior and electrical performance under different impact speeds were studied. As the strain rate increased from 206 s⁻¹ to 1402 s⁻¹, the compressive strength of the ZrC/C composites first increased by 40.9% (375.8 ± 22.5 MPa) and then decreased by 20.3%. Compared with the electric resistance of the ZrC/C composites before impact, their electric resistance increased by 76.7% after impact under the strain rate of 206 s⁻¹. As the ZrC/PyC weight ratio increased from 1.4 to 2.6, the hardness of the ZrC/C composites increased from 143.2 ± 15.7 HV to 298.6 ± 18.5 HV, and their modulus increased from 14.6 ± 1.8 GPa to 26.3 ± 1.9 GPa. The finite element simulation results showed that appropriately increasing the relative ceramic content can improve the impact resistance of the ZrC/C composites. This work provides an effective strategy for optimizing the impact resistance of ultra-high temperature composites by controlling the relative ceramic content.