Formation of tough composite joints
- GE Corporate Research and Development, Schenectady, NY (United States)
Joints which exhibit tough fracture behavior were formed in a composite with a Si/SiC matrix reinforced with Textron SCS-6 fibers with either boron nitride or silicon nitride fiber coatings. In composites with BN coatings fibers were aligned uniaxially, while composites with Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}-coated fibers had a 0/90{degree} architecture. Lapped joints (joints with overlapping fingers) were necessary to obtain tough behavior. Geometrical requirements necessary to avoid brittle joint failure have been proposed. Joints with a simple overlap geometry (only a few fingers) would have to be very long in order to prevent brittle failure. Typical failure in these joints is caused by a crack propagating along the interfaces between the joint fingers. Joints of the same overall length, but with geometry changed to be symmetric about the joint centerline and with an extra shear surface exhibited tough fractures accompanied with extensive fiber pullout. The initial matrix cracking of these joints was relatively low because cracks propagated easily through the ends of the fingers. Joints with an optimized stepped sawtooth geometry produced composite-like failures with the stress/strain curves containing an elastic region followed by a region of rising stress with an increase of strain. Increasing the fiber/matrix interfacial strength from 9 to 25 MPa, by changing the fiber coating, increased matrix cracking and ultimate strength of the composite significantly. The best joints had matrix cracking stress and ultimate strength of 138 and 240 MPa, respectively. Joint failure was preceded by multiple matrix cracking in the entire composite. The high strength of the joints will permit building of structures containing joints with only a minor reduction of design stresses.
- Research Organization:
- Knolls Atomic Power Lab. (KAPL), Niskayuna, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC12-76SN00052
- OSTI ID:
- 319832
- Report Number(s):
- KAPL-P-000161; K-97042; CONF-970568-; ON: DE99001888; TRN: 99:003937
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 99. annual meeting of the American Ceramic Society, Cincinnati, OH (United States), 4-7 May 1997; Other Information: PBD: May 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Modeling brittle and tough stress-strain behavior in unidirectional ceramic matrix composites
Toughening mechanisms in weak matrix ceramic composites