Carbon fiber-reinforced carbon composite material and manufacturing method therefor

For a composite material useful as heat shielding tiles for use in first walls of a thermonuclear reactor, a prefoam is formed by a large square rods formed by orienting carbon fibers in the axial direction into a cylindrical shape and arranging them in a matrix in longitudinal and lateral directions of a plate toward the direction of the thickness each at a predetermined distance, and thin square rods stacked in lattice-like manner between the large square rods. The prefoam is impregnated with a thermosetting resin or a pitch and carbonated by heating in an inactive atmosphere. The orientation ratio of the fibers in the direction of the plate thickness and fiber content can be increased to maintain the linearity of the fibers. High thermal conductivity can be provided in the direction of the plate thickness to maintain high thermal conductivity even under a high temperature thereby preventing reduction of the wall thickness due to erosion. The weaving step is simplified and the fabrication time and cost can be reduced. (N.H.)