Patent ID: 8003026

Claim:
A method comprising the sequential steps of: (i) heat-treating a carbon fiber preform at a temperature in the range of 1400-2540° C.; (ii) infiltrating the carbon fiber preform with a high char-yield pitch using at least one of a VPI (vacuum pressure infiltration) process or a RTM (resin transfer molding) process; (iii) stabilizing the high char-yield pitch-infiltrated preform; (iv) carbonizing the preform with an intermediate heat-treatment at 800-2000° C.; (v) infiltrating the carbon fiber preform with the high char-yield pitch using at least one of the VPI (vacuum pressure infiltration) process or the RTM (resin transfer molding) process; (vi) stabilizing the high char-yield pitch-infiltrated preform; (vii) carbonizing the preform with an intermediate heat-treatment at 800-2000° C.; (viii) infiltrating the carbon fiber preform with the high char-yield pitch using at least one of the VPI (vacuum pressure infiltration) process or the RTM (resin transfer molding) process; (ix) stabilizing the high char-yield pitch-infiltrated preform; (x) carbonizing the preform with an intermediate heat-treatement at 800-2000° C. to achieve a final density of more than 1.75 g/cc; (xi) machining the surfaces of the preform to form a carbon-carbon composite aircraft brake disc; and (xii) applying an oxidation protection system to the carbon-carbon composite aircraft brake disc, wherein the final density is achieved without chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) processing.