Mullite Oxidation Resistant Coating for SiC-coated Carbon/Carbon Composites by Supersonic Plasma Spraying

To improve the oxidation resistance of carbon/carbon （C/C） composites, mullite coating was prepared on the surface of SiC-coated C/C composites by supersonic plasma spraying. Phases and microstructures of mullite coating were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The coating primarily consists of a single phase of mullite （3AI203-2SIO2）. The SEM results show that mullite coating was continuous and well bonded with the SiC inner layer without penetrating crack. Mullite coating exhibited good oxidation resistance, After 98.5 h oxidation at 1773 K and 9 thermal shock cycles between 1773 K and room temperature, the weight loss of the coated C/C composites was only 2.57%.

Diagnosis for the Interaction of Supersonic Molecular Beam with Plasma

Supersonic Molecular Beam Injection (SMBI) is a new fuelling method for Tokamaks and has recently been improved to enhance the flux of the beam and to make a survey of the cluster effect within the beam. There are a series of new phenomena, which implicate the interaction of the beam (including clusters) with the toroidal plasma of HL-1M Tokamak. The Ha signals from the edge show a regular variation around the torus. Around the injection port, the edge Hα signals are positive rectangular wave, which is consistent with that of the injection beam pulses. The edge electron temperature, measured with movable Langmuir probes, decreases by an order of magnitude and the density increases by an order of magnitude. Hα emission at the beam injection port, measured with CCD camera at an angle of 13.4 degrees to the SMBI line, shows many separate peaks within the contour plot. These peaks may show the strong emission produced by the interaction of the hydrogen clusters with the plasma. Hydrogen clusters may be produced in the beam according to the empirical scaling (Hagena) law of clustering onset, * = .here d is the nozzle diameter in μm, Po the stagnation pressure in mbar, To the source temperature in K, and k is a constant related to the gas species. If * > 100, clusters will be formed. In present experiment * is about 127.

Ablation Mechanism of HfC-HfO2Protective Coating for SiC-Coated C/C Composites in an Oxyacetylene Torch Environment

To prevent the C/C composites from ablation, HfC-HfO2 protective coating was prepared by supersonic atmospheric plasma spraying. The morphology and microstructure of HfC-HfO2 coating were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The ablation resistance test was carried out by an oxyacetylene torch. The results show that the as-prepared coating is dense with little pinholes and crack free. The elements Hf, C and O were uniformly distributed in the cross-section. After ablation for different time, the mass ablation rate fluctuated along with the change of ablation time. The ablation process of the surface coating could be divided into rapid oxidation and solid state sintering stages. During ablation, an Hf CxOy-HfO2 transitional layer was generated in the coating, which resulted from the active oxidation of Hf C. After cooling, some microcracks were observed on the surface of coating, and the structure of cross-section was broken, which were due to the phase transition of HfO2.