A novel biomimetic approach to the design of high-performance ceramic/metal composites
The prospect of extending natural biological design to develop new synthetic ceramic-metal composite materials is examined. Using ice-templating of ceramic suspensions and subsequent metal infiltration, we demonstrate that the concept of ordered hierarchical design can be applied to create fine-scale laminated ceramic-metal (bulk) composites that are inexpensive, lightweight and display exceptional damage-tolerance properties. Specifically, Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/Al-Si laminates with ceramic contents up to approximately 40 vol% and with lamellae thicknesses down to 10 {micro}m were processed and characterized. These structures achieve an excellent fracture toughness of 40 MPa{radical}m at a tensile strength of approximately 300 MPa. Salient toughening mechanisms are described together with further toughening strategies.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Materials Sciences Division
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 972281
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-2437E; TRN: US201006%%1035
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Vol. 7, Issue 46
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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