Ablation behavior and mechanism of 3D C/ZrC composite in oxyacetylene torch environment

Ablation property of three dimensional carbon fiber reinforced zirconium carbide composite (3D C/ZrC composite) was determined using oxyacetylene torch test with a heat flux of 4187 kW/m2 and flame temperature of over 3000 °C. C/ZrC composite exhibited an excellent configurational stability with a surface temperature of over 2000 °C during 60–300 s period, while 3D C/SiC composite was perforated at 55 s. After ablation for 300 s, the composite showed a mass loss rate of 0.006 g/s and a linear recession rate of 0.004 mm/s. The formation of zirconia melt on the surface of the C/ZrC composite contributed mainly the ablation property improvement. The C/ZrC composite after ablation showed four different layers due to the temperature and pressure gradients: the melting layer, the loose tree-coral-like ZrO2 layer, the undersurface oxidation layer, and the composite layer.