Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Cyclic fatigue in ceramics: A balance between crack shielding accumulation and degradation

Journal Article · · Journal of the American Ceramic Society
;  [1]
  1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

Cyclic fatigue growth rates in R-curve ceramics have been observed to depend very strongly on the maximum applied stress intensity, K{sub max}, and only weakly on the stress intensity range, {Delta}K. This behavior is rationalized through measurement of crack wake shielding characteristics as a function of these fatigue parameters in a gas-pressure-sintered silicon nitride. In particular, evidence for a mechanical equilibrium between shielding accumulation by crack growth and shielding degradation by frictional wear of sliding interfaces is found for steady-state cyclic fatigue. This equilibrium gives rise to a rate law for cyclic fatigue. The data suggest that the accumulation process is the origin of the strong K{sub max} dependence, and that the degradation process is the origin of the weak {Delta}K dependence. These features are shown to be related to the ``cyclic`` R-curve and to the cyclic crack opening displacement, respectively.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
79760
Journal Information:
Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Journal Name: Journal of the American Ceramic Society Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 78; ISSN 0002-7820; ISSN JACTAW
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Behavior of cyclic fatigue cracks in monolithic silicon nitride
Journal Article · Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Journal of the American Ceramic Society · OSTI ID:116082

Cyclic fatigue crack growth in silicon nitride: Influences of stress ratio and crack closure
Journal Article · Fri Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1995 · Acta Metallurgica et Materialia · OSTI ID:39850

Cyclic fatigue crack growth from indentation flaw in silicon nitride: Influence of effective stress ratio
Journal Article · Mon Oct 31 23:00:00 EST 1994 · Acta Metallurgica et Materialia; (United States) · OSTI ID:6894326