| Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) represent an attractive class of engineering materials for use in high temperature, high wear and corrosive environments. Much effort has been made to ascertain and improve the strength and fracture characteristics of these materials. Approaches that have received a significant amount of attention include enhancing a ceramic material's mechanical properties through the use of continuous fiber reinforcement; fine, randomly dispersed discontinuous fiber (or whisker) reinforcement; and a hybrid combination of both continuous and discontinuous fibers. This dissertation addresses two important aspects of determining and improving the strength and toughness of CMCs and is comprised of three research papers that have been prepared for journal publication. The first paper, “Transverse Fracture Toughness of Unidirectional Continuous Fiber and Hybrid Ceramic Matrix Composites” provides the results of three-point chevron-notched-beam fracture toughness testing and demonstrates a significant improvement in transverse fracture toughness can be obtained through the use of hybrid fiber reinforcements. The second paper, “A Tensile Testing Method for Ceramic Matrix Composites” presents a novel approach to testing small brittle material specimens using conventional testing equipment with minimal specialized fixture components. The third paper, “Fiber/Matrix Interface Properties of Hybrid Ceramic Matrix Composites”, presents a method of determining the characteristics of the fiber/matrix interface of a continuous fiber reinforced CMC and a related hybrid CMC reinforced by both continuous fibers and finely dispersed whiskers using a multiple fiber pullout technique. |
