High temperature characterization of an UHTC candidate materials for RLV's

Nose and wing leading edges of the future generations re-entry vehicles will withstand very high temperature in an oxidizing environment. UHTC (Ultra High Temperature Ceramics) materials are very promising candidate materials for such applications. An innovative, proprietary methodology was developed to produce, by plasma spraying deposition, a ceramic composite containing SiC particles (25 wt %) dispersed in a ZrB2 matrix. With such a technique both coatings and self standing parts were fabricated. In spite of the well known difficulty to obtain plasma sprayed coatings containing SiC, characterization results evidenced that the used process did not affect the phase composition. The high temperature behaviour of such a composite was characterised and the formation of a passivation layer, composed by mixed oxides of Si and Zr, was assessed, thus confirming that the developed material can withstand high temperatures in oxidizing atmosphere, as requested by the envisaged application.