Investigation of the effect of microstructure on the R-Curve behavior of metal-ceramic composites

摘要

An investigation was made into the effect of microstructure on the peak toughness and shape of the crack growth resistance curves for two ceramic-metal composites. An Al(sup 2)O(sup 3)/Al composite formed by Reactive Metal Penetration was used along with an AlN/Al composite formed using a reactive infiltration technique. The results indicate that the toughness increases with an increase in the volume fraction of the metal phase for a particular composite composition, and the peak toughness and shape of the R-Curve also depend on the composite microstructure and metal composition.