Article and method for erosion resistant composite

A composite article for resisting erosion, comprising:

• a sacrificial layer for exposure to an erosion environment;
• a body layer, where the sacrificial layer is made of a first ceramic material and the body layer is made of a second ceramic material having the same ceramic material composition as the first ceramic material, wherein the first ceramic material and the second ceramic material are selected from a group consisting of tungsten carbide, boron nitride, titanium nitride, silicon carbide, and combinations thereof;
• and
• an erosion resistant layer located between the sacrificial erosion layer and the body layer for protecting the body layer upon erosion of the sacrificial layer to expose the erosion layer to the erosion environment, and the body layer is thicker than each of the sacrificial layer and the erosion resistant layer.

A method of processing a composite article for resisting erosion, comprising:

• forming a body layer;
• forming a sacrificial layer with an erosion resistant layer between the sacrificial erosion layer and the body layer protecting the body layer upon erosion of the sacrificial layer to expose the erosion layer to an erosion environment, where the sacrificial layer and the body layer are formed of materials having the same material composition;
• selecting the material composition to be a ceramic material selected from a group consisting of tungsten carbide, boron nitride, titanium nitride, silicon carbide and combinations thereof;
• and
• forming the ceramic material from a preceramic polymer or by slip casting the ceramic material.

A method of processing a composite article for resisting erosion, comprising:

• laying-up at least one pre-impregnated molding layer for forming a body layer;
• laying-up a pre-fabricated erosion resistant layer adjacent to the pre-impregnated molding layer;
• laying-up a pre-impregnated molding layer for forming a sacrificial layer on the erosion resistant layer such that the erosion resistant layer is between the pre-impregnated molding layer for forming the body layer and the pre-impregnated molding layer for forming the sacrificial layer;
• curing the pre-impregnated molding layers to form the composite article;
• partially curing the at least one pre-impregnated molding layer for forming the body layer prior to laying-up and curing the pre-impregnated molding layer for forming the sacrificial layer.