INFLUENCE OF PARTICLE-SIZE DISTRIBUTION ON DUCTILE-PHASE TOUGHENING IN BRITTLE MATERIALS

In ductile-phase-toughened brittle materials the size distribution of the ductile phase sometimes has a remarkable effect on toughening, An equation for predicting the toughness increment due to crack bridging, taking into account a ductile-phase particle size distribution, has b een deduced, Comparison between the toughness value predicted by the e quation and that obtained from a double cantilever beam (DCB) method o n a Al2O3-20 vol% Ni composite material has shown that the equation gi ves a more reasonable estimate of the toughness than previous equation s.