Properties and application of oriented porous SiC as transpiration cooling materials

This paper describes the fabrication of porous reaction-bonded SiC ceramics with radial directed pores and the application of these materials to transpiration cooling system of rocket engines. A special mold is designed for freeze-casting process to prepare SiC cylinders with radial directed pores. Green bodies with well-oriented pore structure are obtained from slurry with solid loading up to 47vol%. The pore size is in the level of several tens micron. Green bodies with various porosities are infiltrated with different amount of liquid Si. The intrinsic permeability of each sample is measured with air as flowing media. It is concluded that permeability has relationship with not only the porosity but also the pore structure of samples.