Tensile, compressive and in-plane/inter-laminar shear failure behavior of CVI- and NITE-SiC/SiC composites

Abstract

A SiC/SiC composite is an attractive candidate material but it is a challenge to apply it to the practical components because of the inherent brittle-like failure and structural anisotropy. This study aims to evaluate the failure behavior of SiC/SiC composites by various test modes. Comparison between tensile and compressive strengths revealed the clear axial anisotropy of failure strength. The in-plane shear strength by the off-axial tensile method is invalid unless considering the mixed failure modes. Alternatively, it was demonstrated that the in-plane shear strength can successfully be obtained by the Iosipescu method. The true inter-laminar shear strength can be identified by the diametral compression method. © 2011 Ceramic Society of Japan..