The effects of various basic factors of combustion gas flow conditions on t
he degradation behavior of silicon carbide (SiC) have been experimentally c
larified. The degradation of SiC in combustion gas flow was expressed in te
rms of weight loss. The weight loss depended markedly on the water vapor pa
rtial pressure, becoming larger with increasing water vapor partial pressur
e. The effect of oxygen partial pressure on weight loss was small, and the
weight loss decreased with increasing oxygen partial pressure. By consideri
ng the effects of the partial pressures of water vapor and oxygen, the gas
temperature, the pressure and the gas flow velocity did not have such a sig
nificant effect on the weight loss in the given range of test conditions. B
ased on experimental results, it was clarified that water vapor partial pre
ssure is the major factor causing the degradation of SiC.