Wa. Curtin et al., MODELING BRITTLE AND TOUGH STRESS-STRAIN BEHAVIOR IN UNIDIRECTIONAL CERAMIC-MATRIX COMPOSITES, Acta materialia, 46(10), 1998, pp. 3409-3420
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Material Science","Metallurgy & Metallurigical Engineering
A new simple model for predicting the uniaxial stress-strain behavior
of a unidirectional ceramic matrix composite. including stochastic mat
rix crack evolution, stochastic fiber damage and ultimate failure, is
presented. The model demonstrates an important transition in composite
behavior. ''Brittle'' (low failure strain) behavior occurs when the m
atrix cracking stresses are sufficiently high; the composite fails dur
ing the matrix cracking regime of deformation and at a strain that is
controlled by the matrix flaw population and elastic properties. ''Tou
gh'' (high Failure strain) behavior occurs when the matrix cracking st
resses are lower; matrix cracking is completed prior to failure and th
e failure strain of the composite is controlled by the fibers. In both
cases, the failure strength is fiber-controlled. The model is applied
to study SiC/SiC 500-fiber minicomposite deformation, using data rece
ntly obtained by Lissart and Lamon on two material types, ''B'' and ''
C''. Parameters for the matrix flaw population are used to fit the exp
erimental stress-strain data bur the failure is controlled by the meas
ured fiber strength statistics. Excellent agreement is found for the '
'C'' materials, which are in the transition regime between the brittle
and tough limits and variations in fiber strength are postulated to b
e responsible for the wide range of behaviors found in the ''B'' mater
ials. The fitted matrix flaw parameters are then used to predict the f
iber/matrix interfacial sliding resistance and the values obtained are
in excellent agreement with independent values determined from both u
nload/reload hysteresis loops and fiber pullout lengths. The new model
provides a useful tool for understanding the interplay matrix and fib
er flaw distributions and the overall dependence of stress-strain beha
vior on ail the underlying constituent material properties. (C) 1998 A
cta Metallurgica Inc.