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Ceramic composites: A review of toughening mechanisms and demonstration of micropillar compression for interface property extraction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2018

Joey Kabel ,
Peter Hosemann ,
Yevhen Zayachuk ,
David E. J. Armstrong ,
Takaaki Koyanagi ,
Yutai Katoh  and
Christian Deck
Joey Kabel
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94709, USA
Peter Hosemann*
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94709, USA
Yevhen Zayachuk
Affiliation:
Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, U.K.
David E. J. Armstrong
Affiliation:
Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, U.K.
Takaaki Koyanagi
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, USA
Yutai Katoh
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830, USA
Christian Deck
Affiliation:
Nuclear Technologies and Materials Division, General Atomics, 3550 General Atomics Court, San Diego, California 92121-1122, USA
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: peterh@berkeley.edu
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Abstract

Ceramic fiber–matrix composites (CFMCs) are exciting materials for engineering applications in extreme environments. By integrating ceramic fibers within a ceramic matrix, CFMCs allow an intrinsically brittle material to exhibit sufficient structural toughness for use in gas turbines and nuclear reactors. Chemical stability under high temperature and irradiation coupled with high specific strength make these materials unique and increasingly popular in extreme settings. This paper first offers a review of the importance and growing body of research on fiber–matrix interfaces as they relate to composite toughening mechanisms. Second, micropillar compression is explored experimentally as a high-fidelity method for extracting interface properties compared with traditional fiber push-out testing. Three significant interface properties that govern composite toughening were extracted. For a 50-nm-pyrolytic carbon interface, the following were observed: a fracture energy release rate of ∼2.5 J/m2, an internal friction coefficient of 0.25 ± 0.04, and a debond shear strength of 266 ± 24 MPa. This research supports micromechanical evaluations as a unique bridge between theoretical physics models for microcrack propagation and empirically driven finite element models for bulk CFMCs.

Keywords

ceramic compositeinternal frictionneutron irradiationchemical vapor depositioncoatingtoughnessfracturenuclear materialsnano-indentation
Type
Invited Feature Paper
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , 28 February 2018 , pp. 424 - 439
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Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2018. This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. 

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Footnotes

Contributing Editor: Yanchun Zhou

This paper has been selected as an Invited Feature Paper.

References

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