Due to a larger specific volume of the ferroelectric phase, the antiferroelectric-ferroelectric transition is believed to have an enhanced toughening effect against fracture. The toughening requires a non-recoverable transformation in the crack process zone. Complementary measurement of the crystal symmetry, dielectric constant, field-induced polarization, and Raman spectrum on ceramic Pb0.99Nb...

Toughening mechanisms of a polyamide 6,6/polyphenylene oxide alloy containing an elastomer tested under a slow rate, an impact rate, and a low temperature have been investigated using various microscopy techniques. It is found that the toughening mechanisms of the alloy may change from crazing/shear yielding, to crack bridging/crazing, and to transparticle failure, depending on the testing cond...

Inspired by the ternary structure of natural nacre, robust ternary artificial nacre is constructed through synergistic toughening of graphene oxide (GO) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanosheets via a vacuum-assisted filtration self-assembly process. The synergistic toughening effect from high mechanical properties of GO and lubrication of MoS2 nanosheets is successfully demonstrated. Meanwhil...

Moire interferometry is employed to study toughening in medium to large grain size nominally pure alumina. The fracture scale length, which is characterized by the grain size of the alumina, is systematically varied from 35 to 102 p,m. R curves are derived from bulk mode I compliance calculations for the differing grain sizes and from the near tip moire fringes. The level of material toughening...

It is known that the toughness of brittle ceramics can be improved significantly with the addition of hard platelets. In the present study, platelet-shape multilayer ceramic laminates are utilized as a toughening agent for alumina ceramics. They are prepared by laminating the BaTiO3-based ceramic tapes. Although the elastic modulus of the BaTiO3based platelets is lower than that of the alumina ...

Bone and other natural material exhibit a combination of strength and toughness that far exceeds that of synthetic structural materials. Bone's toughness is a result of numerous extrinsic and intrinsic toughening mechanisms that operate synergistically at multiple length scales to produce a tough material. At the system level however no theory or organizational principle exists to explain how s...

Microdamage resulting from fatigue or 'wear and tear' loading contributes to bone fragility; however, the full extent of its influence is not completely understood. Linear microcracks (∼50-100 μm) and diffuse damage (clusters of sublamellar-sized cracks) are the two major bone microdamage types, each with different mechanical and biological consequences. Healthy bone, due to its numerous micros...

The structure and the toughening mechanism of nacre have been the subject of intensive research over the last 30 years. This interest originates from nacre's excellent combination of strength, stiffness and toughness, despite its high, for a biological material, volume fraction of inorganic phase, typically 95%. Owing to the improvement of nanoscale measurement and observation techniques, signi...

Micromechanical models for fracture initiation that incorporate local failure criteria have been widely developed for metallic and ceramic materials; however, few such micromechanical models have been developed for the fracture of bone. In fact, although the fracture event in "hard" mineralized tissues such as bone is commonly believed to be locally strain-controlled, only recently has there be...