Varying the flow rate of natural gas from 50 to 80 to 120 l/h, isotropic pyrocarbon produced by hot wall chemical vapor deposition at 1000 ℃ were examined by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The X-ray data were evaluated by Scherrer equation, and the intensity ratio of D to G band derived from Raman data was used to evaluate the lateral extension of isotropic pyrocarbon. The experimental results show that the d002-spacing of isotropic pyroearbon decreases from 0.3499 nm to 0.3451 nm, while the stack height increases from 6.5 to 8.4 nm with the increase of flow rate of natural gas. The intensity ratio of D to G band and lateral extension of isotropie pyrocarbon increases with natural gas flow rate increasing. After heat treatment, all the crystallite parameters （stack height, lateral extension, and d002-spacing） decrease, indicating the improvement of the arrangement of the basic structural units of isotropic pyrocarbon.
To effectively get the thermal expansion coef- ficient （CTE） of three-dimensional （3D） braided C/C composites and study the variations, a VC＋＋ program with graphical user interfaces was obtained, based on the yam unit model and numerical analysis. With the limited basic properties of carbon fibers and carbon matrix, CTE of 3D braided C/C composites is obtained at 85 ~C. The deviation between the simulated and exl^erimental axial CTE of 3D braided C/C composites is no more than 11%. The effects of different parameters （including the braiding angle of 3D braided preform, the fiber volume fraction and the porosity of 3D braided C/C composites, and the elastic modulus, Poisson＇s ratio and CTEs of carbon fibers and carbon matrix） were analyzed with the program. The results show that the axial CTE of C/C composites decreases with the increase of the braiding angle, the fiber volume fraction, and the porosity of 3D braided C/C composites. The transverse elastic modulus of carbon fibers has the greatest effect on the axial CTE among the studied mechanical parameters, followed by the elastic modulus and Poisson＇s ratio of carbon matrix.
