Fracture resistance and strength of two-phase WC-Ni alloy

Microcracking near a crack tip in a material with microinhomogeneity is reg arded as a stochastic process. Both the critical deformation energy density and minimum ligament size of a structural element at global failure are re lated to a fracture resistance parameter which depends also on the strength . This parameter is also known as the critical energy density factor. For c omposites it is shown that transition of material behaviour from one struct ural state to another could alter the fracture resistance depending on char acter of the critical defect size and strength. The theoretical result is s hown to be in agreement with the experimental data. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.