DAMAGE ASSESSMENT IN AN AL SIC COMPOSITE DURING MONOTONIC TENSILE TESTS USING SYNCHROTRON X-RAY MICROTOMOGRAPHY/

High resolution X-ray tomography is used to study the evolution of dam age in an Al/SiC composite during monotonic tensile tests at room temp erature. Two main damage mechanisms are observed when the plastic regi me is reached: (i) The cracking of the matrix on brittle oxides result ing from the processing of the material; (ii) the cracking of SIC part icles. The aspect ratio of the broken particles along the tensile dire ction is found to be high and the damage accumulation rate is differen t at the surface and in the bulk of the material. Those results are di scussed with respect to the resolution of the imaging technique and to the strain level reached during the tests. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.