Abstract
The mechanisms of toughening in an intermetallic matrix composite were determined by FRASTA, a technique that reconstructs microfailure details of a fracture event by comparing the topographies of conjugate fracture surfaces. Graphic portrayals of the interaction of a crack front with microstructure features are presented for a forged gamma titanium aluminide reinforced with 20 vol pct, 300-µm-diameter, 30-µm-thick TiCb platelets. The threefold toughness increase relative to unreinforced material is attributed to (1) drag on the crack front by the TiCb platelets, (2) bridging of the crack faces by the TiCb platelets, and (3) deflection of the crack front by microcracks in the process zone that nucleate and grow out-of-plane at TiCb platelets. The fractographic results explain discrepancies between measured and predicted toughnesses, provide the mechanistic understanding and microfailure data needed to develop more reliable models, and suggest microstructural modifications for developing more fracture-resistant materials.
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