Carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide composite-based sharp leading edges in high enthalpy plasma flows

Carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) and zirconium diboride-zirconium carbide (ZrB2-ZrC) modified C/SiC (C/SiC-ZrB2-ZrC) sharp leading edges (SLEs) were prepared in this study. Their ablation behaviors were tested in plasma wind tunnels. The results indicated that the ablation of C/SiC SLEs was controlled by the atomic oxidation of SiC, leading to the elimination of SiC. In contrast, C/SiC-ZrB2-ZrC SLEs showed little reduction in plasma flows. During ablation, a ZrO2 skeleton was formed with silica filling inside by the atomic oxidation of SiC. The ZrO2 skeleton suppressed the consumption of SiC, resulting in the improvement of the ablation resistance of C/SiC-ZrB2-ZrC SLEs.