Effect of the curvature radius of sharp leading edge parts made of a SiC/ZrC-SiC coated C/C composite on their ablation resistance

The influence of curvature radius (R) on the ablation behavior and structural evolution of sharp leading edge parts made of SiC/ZrC-SiC coated C/C composites were studied in combination with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. It is found that with increased R, the mass ablation rate increased while the linear ablation rate decreased. Moreover, two regions with distinctive features were observed, including heat flow scouring region and heat dissipation affected region. Samples with smaller R tended to suffer from more severe ablation in heat flow scouring region but showed an opposite tendency in heat dissipation affected region. This is attributed to the different heating modes. CFD simulation of the ablation process revealed the distribution of surface temperature, oxygen partial pressure and shear stress, which affected the oxidation rate and structure stability. The simulation results corresponded well with the experimental characterizations, and contributed to explain the ablation behavior.