Densification rate and mechanical properties of carbon/carbon composites with layer-designed preform

In this work, carbon fiber needle-punching preforms were designed into two structure according to the density change along the thickness direction. One structure is designed to two layers with low-density layer and high-density layer, and the other is to three layers with low-density exterior layer and high-density interior layer. Then the effect of the preform with different structure on the densification rate and compressive properties of C/C composites was investigated. The results show that both two designed preforms can effectively avoid surface blocking, and lead to the faster densification rate of C/C composites during the chemical vapor infiltration processes. These results are attributable to the change of pore size distribution and pyrocarbon thickness, which was caused by fiber architecture designs. Meanwhile, these structural changes can improve the compressive strength of C/C composites, especially for the three-layer preforms. When the density of preforms is 0.45 g/cm3, C/C composites with three-layer preform has the highest compressive strength. The damage of most C/C composites with two and three-layer preforms is caused by shear or delamination failure, while that of C/C composites with common preforms usually caused by matrix collapse. Cracks in C/C composites with two and three-layer preforms always happened on the low-density layer, and consequently ceased or changed propagation direction in the interface between two layers.