Ablation behavior and mechanism analysis of C/SiC composites

Ablation is an erosive phenomenon with removal of material by a combination of thermo-mechanical, thermo-chemical, and thermo-physical factors with high temperature, pressure, and velocity of combustion flame. Materials with outstanding thermo-mechanical and thermo-chemical properties are required for future high-temperature components. C/SiC is a kind of great potential high-temperature structural material in aeronautics and astronautics with low specific weight, high specific strength, good thermal stability, oxidation resistance and excellent resistance to ablation. In this paper, the ablation phenomenon and mechanisms were summarized adequately. The ablated surface of C/SiC composites could be divided into three regions from center to external. In general, the higher the density, the lower the ablation rate; the lower the ablation temperature and less time, the lower the ablation rate, and the preparation methods also had a great influence on the ablation property. Thermo-physical and thermo-mechanical attacks were the main ablation behavior in the center region; oxidation was the main ablation behavior in the transition region and the border oxidation region.