FRACTURE MECHANICS STUDY OF CERAMIC-CERAMIC COMPOSITES

Notch Sensitivity of Ceramic Composites with Rising Fracture Resistance

A theoretical framework is developed for the notched strength of ceramic composites that exhibit rising fracture resistance. It is based on established concepts of crack stability under stress-controlled loadings. On using a linear representation of the resistance curve (expressed in terms of an energy release rate), straightforward analytical solutions are obtained for the strength as well the...

Microwave Heating of Ceramic Composites

The microwave heating of a ceramic composite is modelled and analysed. The composite consists of many small ceramic particles embedded in a ceramic cement. The composite is assumed to be well insulated, and each particle is assumed to be in imperfect thermal contact with the surrounding cement. Based on these two assumptions an asymptotic theory exploiting the small Biot number and small non-di...

Bio-inspired Ceramic/carbon Composites

Fracture of ceramic/ceramic/polymer trilayers for biomechanical applications.

Fracture damage in trilayers consisting of outer and inner brittle layers bonded to a compliant (polycarbonate) substrate and subjected to concentrated surface loading is analyzed. The principal mode of fracture is radial cracking at the undersurface of the inner (core) layer, even in the strongest of core ceramics--other damage modes, including radial cracking in the outer (veneer) layer, are ...

Advanced Radiation-Resistant Ceramic Composites

Ceramic matrix composites (CMC’s), particularly silicon carbide (SiC) fiber-reinforced SiC-matrix (SiC/SiC) composites, have been studied for advanced nuclear energy applications for more than a decade. The perceived potentials for advanced SiC/SiC composites include the ability to operate at temperature regimes much higher than heat-resistant alloys, the inherent low inducedactivation nuclear ...