Preparation and characterization of three-dimensional carbon fiber reinforced zirconium carbide composite by precursor infiltration and pyrolysis process

Abstract Three-dimensional carbon fiber reinforced zirconium carbide composite (3D C/ZrC) was fabricated for ultra high temperature applications by precursor infiltration and pyrolysis (PIP) process using the mixture of zirconium butoxide (Zr(OC 4 H 9 ) 4 ) and divinylbenzene (DVB) as precursor of zirconium carbide. The micro-structural, mechanical and ablative properties of the 3D C/ZrC composite were studied. The flexural strength of the composite was 107.6 MPa, the elastic modulus was 28.8 GPa, and the fracture toughness was 7.03 MPa m 1/2 . The mass lose rate and linear recession rate of the 3D C/ZrC composite during oxyacetylene torch test was 0.012 g/s and -0.002 mm/s, respectively. The formation of ZrO 2 melt on the surface of the composite contributed mainly the excellent ablative property.