Oxidation protective SiC-Si coating for carbon/carbon composites by gaseous silicon infiltration and pack cementation: A comparative investigation

To reduce the influence of coating preparation on the mechanical properties of carbon/carbon composites and further improve the antioxidant properties of the coating, a SiC-Si coating was fabricated on carbon/carbon composites by gaseous silicon infiltration (GSI-SiC-Si). For comparison, a SiC-Si coating was also prepared by pack cementation (PC-SiC-Si). A comparative investigation showed the GSI-SiC-Si coating possesses relative lower roughness, better mechanical and anti-oxidation properties. The GSI-SiC-Si coating samples maintained 87.8 % flexural strength of bare C/C composites, while the C/C substrate was severely siliconized in PC-SiC-Si coating samples. The GSI-SiC-Si coating samples could undergo 30 thermal cycles between 1773 K and room temperature and effectively protect C/C composites from oxidation at 1773 K for more than 500 h without weight loss.