Manufacturing process
Resin impregnation and carbonisation
Also known as liquid impregnation and carbonisation, resin infiltration and carbonization, pitch impregnation
A route to carbon–carbon composites in which a laminate of carbon fibre and phenolic resin is carbonised to a porous char and then densified by repeated cycles of impregnating it with resin or pitch, curing and carbonising again. It is slow, and each cycle adds carbon to the matrix.
Classification
- matrix families
- CARBON
How this record is known
- 2
- Settled consensus
- Cited as the accepted position of the discipline.
2 of 2 claims on this page cite at least one registered source. Counts describe how each statement is known, not how likely it is to be true.
What Lithoen records
Each claim states how it is known and cites its evidence.
EstablishedPorous, weak char until densified; many cycles; production times of months (as of 1989).
After the first carbonisation the char matrix of a carbon–carbon part is porous and weak and the part is of little structural use until several densification cycles have been completed; NASA described carbon–carbon fabrication in 1989 as time-consuming, with commercial production times of three to nine months.
- temporal basis: As reported in NASA Technical Memorandum 103472 (1989).
Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence · one source
Evidence: G. 1989 · Primary authority
EstablishedCarbon cloth–phenolic laminate carbonised to char, then densified by repeated resin or pitch impregnation and carbonisation.
In the liquid route to a carbon–carbon composite, layers of carbon cloth coated with phenolic resin are stacked, shaped and cured in an autoclave, then heated under an inert gas such as nitrogen so that the resin decomposes to a carbon char; the porous char matrix is then densified by repeated cycles of impregnating the part with liquid resin under pressure, curing and carbonising again, typically three or more times, petroleum or coal-tar pitch sometimes replacing the resin.
Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence · one source
Evidence: G. 1989 · Primary authority
Record last updated 2026-10-30. Corrections follow the published corrections policy; superseded claims are retained, never silently edited.