Functional tailoring of oxidation protection systems of carbon-carbon composites

A carbon-carbon composite, comprising:

• a carbon matrix;
• tows of carbon fibers disposed in the carbon matrix;
• and
• in-situ carbides disposed in the carbon matrix,
• wherein the in-situ carbides are selected from in-situ carbides of refractory metals, semi-metals, or a combination thereof,
• wherein each tow comprises carbon fibers bundled or woven together and having an elastic modulus correlating to a degree of alignment of the carbon fibers in the tow,
• wherein the carbon matrix has an intrabundle matrix region and an interbundle matrix region, wherein the intrabundle matrix region is spaces within a tow of the carbon fibers, and wherein the interbundle matrix region is spaces that separate tows of the carbon fibers, and
• wherein the in-situ carbides are:
• (i) distributed uniformly throughout the carbon matrix in both the intrabundle matrix region and the interbundle matrix region;
• and
• (ii) configured to form glass upon oxidation such that oxidation of the carbon matrix is inhibited at a molecular level by the oxidation of the in-situ carbides distributed uniformly throughout the carbon matrix in both the intrabundle matrix region and the interbundle matrix region.