Influences of deposition temperature, gas flow rate and ZrC content on the microstructure and anti-ablation performance of CVD-HfC-ZrC coating

To amend the oxidation and ablation resistance of C/C composites, HfC-ZrC biphase coating was synthesized by CVD. Influences of deposition temperature and CH4 flow rate on the deposition rate, phase constitution and microstructure of the HfC-ZrC coating were investigated. Ablation behavior and ablation mechanism of the HfC-ZrC coating with different ZrC contents were examined. With the deposition temperature rising, the deposition rate and grain size of the HfC-ZrC coating increased. High flow rate of CH4 was beneficial to improving the deposition rate and reducing the grain size of the HfC-ZrC coating. Moderate ZrC content in the HfC-ZrC coating was conducive to the process of solid solution sintering among HfO2 and ZrO2 grains, leading to generating a continuous and compact oxide layer. The coating with HfC/ZrC mole ratio of 1:1 exhibited superior anti-ablation performance, owing to its flat and compact structure and sufficient solid solution sintering among the oxide grains during ablation.