Ablation Behavior and Microstructure Evolution Mechanisms of Cf/(Ti0.2zr0.2hf0.2nb0.2ta0.2)C-Sic Composite During Plasma Ablation

Air plasma ablation behavior of Cf/(Ti0.2Zr0.2Hf0.2Nb0.2Ta0.2)C-SiC composite was studied systematically under a heat flux of 4 MW/m2 (~2000 ℃). It presents a linear ablation rate of 0.15 μm/s and a mass ablation rate of 2.05 mg/s. Associated with the temperature gradient of the ablation surface, the oxides layer at different locations mainly consist of (TiZrHfNbTa)Ox, (HfxZr1-xO2)’, (TiNbxTa2-xO7)’, (HfxZr1-x)SiO4, and SiO2. Due to the synergistic effect of the multicomponent oxides, oxidation products form a protective structure composed of high melting point oxide skeleton filled with relatively low melting point phases. This research establishes the foundation for composite ablation-resistant performance further improvement.