Abstract: Cost effective and high performance 3D needled carbon/silicon carbide friction materials were prepared by a combination of chemical vapor infiltration and reactive melt infiltration. The microstructures and tensile properties of the composites were studied. Results indicated that the composites consisted of carbon, silicon and silicon carbide. The density and porosity of the composites were about 2.1g·cm-3 and 4.4% respectively, and the tensile strength and Young’s modulus were about 114-154MPa and 40-63GPa respectively. The composites exhibited excellent pseudo-plastic behavior similar to that of metal. The main toughening mechanism of the as-prepared composites was fiber pull-out, interfacial debonding, deflection of cracks, bridging of fibers and bifurcation of cracks.