• Carbon letters
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.163-167
• /
• 2003

The "Film boiling" Chemical Vapor Infiltration (CVI) process is a rapid densification one developed in particular for the elaboration of carbon/carbon composite materials. In order to optimize this new thermal gradient process, we have carried out several studies, on one hand, about the nature of the complex chemical reactions in a confined medium, and on the other hand, relative to the role of heat and mass transfers inside the preform. We show in this study that the introduction of a permeable sheath around the preform leads to hybrid liquid/gas CVI process which presents the advantages of very high densification rates associated with a moderate input energy.