Experiment-based numerical evaluation of the surface recession of C/C–SiC composites under the high-energy laser

In this paper, we developed a multi mechanism coupling finite element model to predict the surface recession of C/C–SiC composites on the basis of the ablation phenomena. In particular, we took into account temperature-dependent properties of component materials, heat convection, and radiation in the ultra-high temperature range. By combining a user-defined subroutine and arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian adaptive meshing technique, the surface recession of C/C–SiC composites was captured. The predicted ablation depth agreed well with experimental results. The trend of the ablation rate between simulations and experiments was almost the same. Meanwhile, the effects of the laser powers on ablation behaviors of C/C–SiC composites were investigated. It was found that low laser powers had little effect on the ablation rate while the ablation rate increased first and then decreased for high laser powers.