HfC–SiC-modified carbon/carbon composite (C/C–HfC–SiC) sharp leading edges (SLEs) were prepared via precursor infiltration and pyrolysis for potential hypersonic applications. The effect of SiC proportion on the ablation behavior of the SLEs under oxyacetylene flames with 2.38 MW/m² and 4.18 MW/m² was investigated. The preferred sample with a volume ratio of HfC to SiC of 0.74 possessed almost zero degradation (linear recession rate 0.6 μm/s) up to a temperature of 2371 ℃. As the temperature increases to 2527 ℃ in the latter condition, the SLE with less SiC (the volume ratio of HfC to SiC is 1.10) exhibited a linear recession rate of 1.03 μm/s during cyclic ablation of 3 × 40 s. Relatively more SiC addition is favorable under lower heat flux due to the better oxygen barrier performance of the scale. However, superior ablation resistance is available under higher heat flux with less SiC addition due to the higher thermal stability of the resulting oxide scale.

To repair the damaged SiC coated C/C composites, a double-layer system including a Sm-doped borosilicate glass external layer and a SiSiC inner layer was prepared by a slurry-based laser cladding technique. Isothermal oxidation experiment and indirect/direct thermal-radiation measurements were performed. The results showed that the absorbance of borosilicate glass to the laser at 900–1200 nm was improved significantly by Sm-doping. Consequently, the repaired coating with a more compact structure and better oxidation resistance was obtained. After oxidation at 1773 K for 10 h, the mass loss of the damaged sample could be reduced by 74.98% with repairing. By increasing laser-absorption and reducing viscosity, the thermal-radiation property of the repaired coating was enhanced to decrease the surface temperature greatly. A repair system with excellent thermal protection performance was achieved.