Development and testing of C/SiC components for liquid rocket propulsion applications

Ablation Morphology and Microstructure of 3D Orthogonal Cf/SiC Composites Prepared by PIP

“…6b) shows the zone where the carbon fibers are perpendicular to the surface and Fig.6c ( Fig.6d) shows the zone where the carbon fibers are parallel to the surface. Comparing Fig.6a with Fig.6b, the SiC matrix on the surface of 3D C/SiC composites in Fig.6a had been cleared away, by reason of the rapid oxidation of SiC, to form Si02 with a small volume expansion; it observes the following oxidation reaction: 2SiC (s) + 30 2 (g) 2Si0 2 (1) + 2C0 (g) (2) Si0 2 filled the gaps among fibers and also formed scattered spherical particles (diameter<l//m).The formation mechanism of spherical Si0 2 particles: Affected by poor wettability between liquid Si0 2 and carbon fibers, the liquid Si0 2 shrank into spherical particles during the cooling process. Due to the poor oxidation resistance /12/, the carbon fibers perpendicular to the surface of ablation were eroded, and formed a depression structure compared with the matrix.…”

Effects of ablation at different regions in three-dimensional orthogonal C/SiC composites ablated by oxyacetylene torch at 1800°C

“…So far, ablation research mainly concentrate on optimization of testing environment, C/C composites and 2D C/SiC composites, while studies on ablation morphology and microstructure of three-dimensional C/SiC 0924-0136/$ -see front matter © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2008.08.002 composites prepared by polycarbosilane infiltration pyrolysis (PIP) are rarely reported (Beyer et al, 1999;Patterson et al, 2000;Lee and Joo, 2004a,b;Tang et al, 2006;Pan et al, 2006). The present paper is to investigate the effects of ablation at different regions in three-dimensional orthogonal C/SiC composites ablated by oxyacetylene torch at 1800 • C.…”

“…Future engine components, in particular combustion chambers and expansion nozzles which are subjected to high thermal loads, need new materials which possess outstanding thermomechanical and thermochemical properties (Beyer et al, 1999). In view of their low specific weight, their excellent resistance to ablation as well as cost effective production, C/SiC composites represent an interesting group of materials for high-temperature components for space propulsion systems (Khan, 1996;Beyer et al, 2005;Mital and Murthy, 2001;Hald et al, 2003).…”

CMC Rocket Combustion Chamber with Effusion Cooling

“…the Snecma [1] fabricated nozzle extension for the RL10-B of Pratt & Whitney, or for combustion chambers of low thrust, low pressure engines for which active cooling wasn't necessary. A typical example are the test firings of a small storable propellant thruster (400 N class) reported by Astrium [2]. Within the first to report hot-fire tests of actively cooled ceramic combustion chamber liners in the 6-10 MPa range were NASA Marshall Space Flight Center [3] and DLR Lampoldshausen [4].…”