To meet the increasing demand for advanced materials capable of operation over 2000 ℃ for future thermal protection systems application, C/C-ZrC-SiC composites were fabricated by reactive melt infiltration （RMI） with Zr, Si mixed powders as raw materials. The structural evolution and formation mechanism of the C/C- ZrC-SiC composites were discussed, and the mechanical property of the as-prepared material was investigated by compression test. The results showed that after the RMI process, a special structure with ZrC-SiC multi-coating as outer layer and ZrC-SiC-PyC ceramics as inner matrix was formed. ZrC and SiC rich areas were formed in the composites and on the coating surface due to the formation of Zr-Si intermetallic compounds in the RMI process. Mechanical tests showed that the average compression strength of the C/C-ZrC-SiC composites was 133.86 MPa, and the carbon fibers in the composites were not seriously damaged after the RMI process.
To protect carbon materials from oxidation, mullite/SiC coatings were prepared on graphite by chemical vapor reaction (CVR) and slurry sintering. The XRD analyses show that the phase of the outer-layer coating is composed of SiO2 and mullite, and the inner-layer coating is mainly composed of β-SiC. The anti-oxidation behavior of the coating and the Rockwell hardness (HRB) of the coating after oxidation were investigated. The oxidation test shows that the as-prepared multi-layer coating exhibits excellent antioxidation and thermal shock resistance at high temperature. After oxidation at 1150 ℃ for 109 h and thermal shock cycling between 1150 ℃ and room temperature for 12 times, the mass gain of the coated sample is 0.085%. Meanwhile, the indentation tests also demonstrate that the as-prepared coating has good bonding ability between the layers.
A dense ZrC coating with the thickness of 130 μm is prepared on graphite by reactive melt infiltration.XRD and SEM analyses show that the phase composition of the coating is ZrC and it adheres well with the substrate.The influence of ZrC coating on mechanical properties of the graphite was investigated by compression tests and the results show that after the coating process,the compression strength of the coated sample is improved by 13.64% as compared with graphite sample.The improvement of the compression strength for ZrC coated sample can be associated to the increased density and the ZrC particle reinforcement due to the infiltration and reaction of the melted Zr with carbon substrate in the coating process.
