X-ray structure analysis and elastic properties of a fabric reinforced carbon/carbon composite

The effect of heat treatment on microstructure of a plain-weave carbon fabric reinforced carbon-carbon composite with phenolformaldehyde-derived carbon matrix was investigated by X-ray diffraction. The diffraction patterns were analysed by the least-square fitting program Carbonxs. After heat treatment from 1000 to 2800 °C the interplanar distance of (002) planes decreased from 3.488 to 3.420 Å and the lattice parameter in basal plane increased from 2.440 to 2.464 Å, respectively. Simultaneously, the coherent block size in the basal plane directions increased from 18 to 54 Å, which was accompanied by an increase of the fraction of organised carbon atoms from 0.50 to 0.85. The 002 diffraction profile of the composite was much narrower than the sum of peaks of the matrix and fabric alone. This can probably be caused by a better crystallographic ordering (or by a partial graphitisation) of the matrix in the composite. On the other hand, the composite Young’s modulus slightly decreased with the treatment temperature increasing from 2200 to 2800 °C in spite of the established strong improvement of fibre crystallinity and, therefore, fibre modulus. The mechanisms diminishing the modulus of composite (e.g. partial matrix graphitisation at the fibre/matrix interface and decreasing fibre/matrix contact area) probably prevailed over the increasing contribution of the fibre modulus.