FRACTURE-BEHAVIOR OF SHEAR KEY STRUCTURES WITH A SOFTENING PROCESS ZONE

The objective of this paper is to investigate the fracture behavior of short fiber reinforced ceramic structures by means of the fracture me chanics approach. In this paper, structural stability in relation to c rack growth in shear key structures with a softening process zone unde r effectively bending loads is studied through residual strength diagr ams and load deflection curves. In addition, the behavior of process z one size preceding traction free crack in the shear key structure is i nvestigated. Shear key structures with a softening process zone can be have stably under loading in the presence of a crack. Results of this analytical study potentially indicate that short fiber reinforcement f or ceramics could eliminate catastrophic failure or unstable fracture behavior of ceramic structures, and also indicate the plausible applic ability of ceramics as construction materials.