Preparation of a high performance carbon/ carbon composite throat insert woven with axial carbon rods

A new kind of C/C composite was made to meet the requirements of the severe conditions suffered by a high performance throat-insert of a solid rocket motor using a method that includes four steps: preform preparation, pressure impregnation and carbonization, high pressure impregnation and carbonization, and high temperature treatment. The preform was made of soft carbon fiber yarns and rigid carbon fiber/resin rods, in which the carbon rods were distributed in an hexagonal arrangement parallel to the axial direction and carbon fiber yarns were laid in a plane perpendicular to the axial carbon rods with a nearest inter yarn angle of 60°. The influence of the main processing conditions on the key properties of these composites was investigated. It is found that the composites have excellent mechanical and thermal properties, and their ablation rates are equivalent to those of C/C composites reinforced with an integral felt preform and 60% lower than those of the C/C composites woven with radial carbon rods.