Effect of SiC Content on the Ablation and Oxidation Behavior of ZrB2-Based Ultra High Temperature Ceramic Composites.docVIP

Materials 2013, 6, 1730-1744; doi:10.3390/ma6051730 OPEN ACCESS materials ISSN 1996-1944 /journal/materials Article Effect of SiC Content on the Ablation and Oxidation Behavior of ZrB -Based Ultra High Temperature Ceramic Composites 2 Ping Hu *, Kaixuan Gui, Yang Yang, Shun Dong and Xinghong Zhang Science and Technology on Advanced Composites in Special Environment Laboratory, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China; E-Mails: gkx89@ (K.G.);163.com (Y.Y.);163.com (S.D.); zhangxh@ (X.Z.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: huping@; Tel.: +86-0451-8640-3016; Fax: +86-0451-8640-3016. Received: 9 February 2013; in revised form: 28 March 2013 / Accepted: 29 March 2013 / Published: 29 April 2013 Abstract: The ablation and oxidation of ZrB -based ultra high temperature ceramic 2 (UHTC) composites containing 10%, 15% and 30% v/v SiC were tested under different heat fluxes in a high frequency plasma wind tunnel. Performance was significantly affected by the surface temperature, which was strongly dependent on the composition. Composites containing 10% SiC showed the highest surface temperature (2300 °C) and underwent a marked degradation under both conditions. In contrast, composites with 30% SiC exhibited the lowest surface temperature (2000 °C) and demonstrated excellent ablation resistance. The surface temperature of UHTCs in aerothermal testing was closely associated with the dynamic evolution of the surface and bulk oxide properties, especially for the change in chemical composition on the exposed surface, which was strongly dependent on the material composition and testing parameters (i.e., heat flux, enthalpy, pressure and test time), and in turn affected its oxidation performance. Keywords: ZrB ; SiC; ultra high temperature ceramics (UHTCs); ablation; oxidation 2 1. Introduction Refractory metal borides such as zirconium diboride (ZrB ) and