Erosion resistant composite coating on rigid carbon fiber felt

Rigid carbon fiber felt (RCFF) was surface modified with a composite coating via a two-step technique of pasting and chemical vapor deposition. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were performed to analyze the microstructure of the substrate and the composite coating. The effect of the deposition time on solid particle erosion properties of RCFF modified by a composite coating was investigated. The pyrolytic carbon can decrease the surface porosity of a carbon fiber cloth, resulting in a dense composite. Compared with the substrate, the composite coating exhibited good erosion resistance and reduced the mass loss of the substrate by a factor of 19. The strengthening mechanism was discussed in this paper, and crack propagation along the interface between a carbon fiber and pyrolytic carbon sheath was found to occur; the crack propagation is an important factor for improving erosion resistance.