Effects of TaC amount on the properties of 2D C/SiC–TaC composites prepared via precursor infiltration and pyrolysis

•C/SiC–TaC composites with various TaC amount were prepared.•With TaC amount increase, the density increase, the mechanical properties decrease.•The composite obtains a flexural strength of 98 MPa at 1800 °C and 122 MPa at 2000 °C.•The flexural strength was 174 MPa (74%) after 20 min oxidation at 1200 °C in air.•The mass loss rate and linear recession rate were 0.017 g/s and 0.013 m/s.

Variously contented tantalum carbide (TaC) were introduced into C/SiC composites by slurry infiltration, and then 2D C/SiC–TaC composites were prepared via precursor infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP). With increasing TaC content in the C/SiC–TaC composites, the density increased, the flexural strength and modulus decreased, and the ablation properties increased at first and then fell. The flexural strength and modulus of the composites with 19.0 vol% of TaC at ambient temperature were 246 MPa and 65 GPa, respectively. The flexural strengths of the composites reached to 98 MPa at 1800 °C, 122 MPa at 2000 °C, and 174 MPa (74% of the original value) after 20 min of oxidation at 1200 °C in air. After 60 s of ablation in an oxyacetylene torch environment, the mass loss and linear recession rates of the sample with 30.5 vol% of TaC were 0.017 g/s and 0.013 m/s, respectively.