Evaluation of the relationship between the number of surface and internal defects and stress in inorganic fibers

Abstract

To better utilize the mechanical properties of ceramics fibers, it is very important to understand the ceramics fiber distribution. The strength distribution of ceramics fibers is strongly dependent on defects that are present in or on the surface of the material. When the defects are large, the location of the defects is identified by observing the fracture surface, and the strength of the material is analyzed based on the results. However, in recent years, defects in high-strength ceramics such as carbon fibers have become so small that it is very difficult to analyze the location of such defects. To overcome this problem, a defect analysis method has been developed based on the observation that the tensile strength of fibers decreases when tensile tests are performed in liquids. In this study, a new model that considers both surface and internal defects of fibers was introduced into this analysis method, and the newly developed method was applied to quantitatively separate surface and internal defects of polyacrylonitrile-based fibers, pitch-based carbon fibers, SiC fibers, and glass fibers in air, water, and organic solvents. The number of internal and external defects was expressed as a function of stress. Based on the number of defects, the influence of surface defects was significant for glass fibers, polyacrylonitrile-based carbon fibers, silicon carbide fibers, and pitch-based carbon fibers, in that order. This method is useful for analyses of surface defects in fibers.