A new chart method for assessing the performance of ceramic matrix composites and aiding numerical modelling

This article proposes a new chart method (micro-meso-macro : 3-M Approach) for assessing the thermomechanical performance of Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs). This new chart method is based on the establishment of data bases accumulated by assessing the thermomechanical behaviour related to the evol ution of the microstructure of: the fibre and the microcomposite (single fi bre embedded in a matrix), then the bundle of fibres and the minicomposite (fibre bundle embedded in a matrix), the monolayer (including the weaving p roperties), and finally the macrocomposite. In the final stage of developme nt of a given CMC, the proposed method may provide designers with enough to ols to minimize the number of mechanical tests (which are costly). The main target is to make the numerical modelling of the thermomechanical behaviou r of the macrocomposite` straightforward whatever the architecture of compo sites, especially since the modelling will be based on the real behaviour o f constituents including the microstructural changes occuring during tests, as well as the weaving properties of the fibre cloths.