Design of a C/SiC functionally graded coating for the oxidation protection of C/C composites

To reduce the residual thermal stress between the carbon fiber-reinforced carbon (C/C) composites and the SiC coating layer, functionally graded materials (FGM) consisting of a C/SiC compositionally graded layer (C/SiC interlayer) were adopted. After designing the compositional distribution of the C/SiC interlayer which can relieve the thermal stress effectively, the deposition conditions of the entire compositional range of the C/SiC composites were determined using a thermodynamic calculation. According to the design and calculation the C/SiC interlayer and the SiC outer layer were deposited on the C/C composites by a low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) method at deposition temperatures of 1100 and 1300 °C. The stress calculation and the experimental results suggested that the SiC-rich compositional profile in the FGM layer is the most effective for relieving the thermal stress and increasing the oxidation resistance.