Elastic plastic fracture mechanics investigation of toughness of wet colloidal particulate materials: Influence of saturation.

HYPOTHESIS: Previous use of linear elastic fracture mechanics to estimate toughness of wet particulate materials underestimates the toughness because it does not account for plastic deformation as a dissipation mechanism. Plastic deformation is responsible for the majority of energy dissipated during the fracture of wet colloidal particulate materials. Plastic deformation around the crack tip increases with saturation of the particulate body. The toughness of the body increases with increasing saturation. EXPERIMENTS: Elastic plastic fracture mechanics using the J-integral approach was used for the first time to measure the fracture toughness (JIC) of wet micron sized alumina powder bodies as a function of saturation. The samples were prepared by slip casting. The saturation was controlled by treatment in a humidity chamber. The elastic modulus (E) and the energy dissipated by plastic flow (Apl) were measured in uniaxial compression. The critical stress intensity factor (KIC) was measured using a diametral compression sample with a flaw of known size. The fracture toughness (JIC) was calculated from these measured quantities and the geometry of the specimen. FINDINGS: Elastic plastic fracture mechanics was used for the first time to quantitively account for plastic deformation of wet particulate materials. The linear elastic fracture mechanics approach previously used accounted for less than 1% of the total energy dissipated in fracture. Toughness (JIC) was found to increase with increasing saturation due to plastic deformation that increased with saturation level. The improved understanding of toughness as a function of saturation will aid in providing quantitative analysis of cracking in drying colloidal films and bodies.

Failure Evaluation of a SiC/SiC Ceramic Matrix Composite During In-Situ Loading Using Micro X-ray Computed Tomography.

In this study, we have examined ceramic matrix composites with silicon carbide fibers in a melt-infiltrated silicon carbide matrix (SiC/SiC). We subjected samples to tensile loads while collecting micro X-ray computed tomography images. The results showed the expected crack slowing mechanisms and lower resistance to crack propagation where the fibers ran parallel and perpendicular to the applied load respectively. Cracking was shown to initiate not only from the surface but also from silicon inclusions. Post heat-treated samples showed longer fiber pull-out than the pristine samples, which was incompatible with previously proposed mechanisms. Evidence for oxidation was identified and new mechanisms based on oxidation or an oxidation assisted boron nitride phase transformation was therefore proposed to explain the long pull-out. The role of oxidation emphasizes the necessity of applying oxidation resistant coatings on SiC/SiC.

Fracture toughness of wet and dry particulate materials comprised of colloidal sized particles: role of plastic deformation.

This work demonstrates a method of measuring the fracture toughness of particulate materials comprised of colloidal sized particles over a wide range of saturation. Diametral compression of cylinders containing flaws of controlled length was used to measure the mode I fracture toughness. The effect of degree of saturation on the fracture toughness of slip cast ceramic grade alumina (d50 = 0.7 µm) was investigated. Dry powder compacts have significantly lower fracture toughness than when the powder compact is nearly fully saturated. All observations are consistent with the fracture mechanism being predominantly brittle for the dry samples but predominantly ductile in the nearly saturated samples. The additional dissipation that occurs during the ductile fracture of the nearly saturated samples is due to plastic deformation in front of the crack tip. This well-known mechanism for toughening in metals has been quantified for the first time in soft matter. Analysis of the results indicates that the size of the plastic dissipation zone is more than an order of magnitude larger in the nearly saturated materials compared to the dry material. Understanding the fracture mechanisms that control the propagation of cracks through saturated, partially saturated and dry particulate materials comprised of colloidal sized particles provides additional insight into understanding drying cracks in paint, other coatings, ceramics and water treatment sludge.