SiC/SiC mini-composites with multilayer ZrSiO4 interphase: Room-temperature properties and toughening mechanism

Abstract

SiC/SiC mini-composites reinforced with SiC fibers coated with different numbers of ZrSiO4 sublayers prepared via a non-hydrolytic sol-gel process were fabricated. The tensile strength and work of fracture of the prepared SiC/SiC mini-composites were determined, and the relationship between their mechanical properties and fracture morphologies was discussed. The toughening mechanism and the variation tendency of their mechanical properties were further elaborated by analyzing the interfacial debonding morphologies of the SiC/SiC mini-composites with 1 and 4 layers of ZrSiO4 interphase as well as the results of prior studies. A relatively rare phenomenon—the delamination of the multilayer ZrSiO4 interphase in the SiC/SiC mini-composites but not on the SiC fibers—was observed, which clearly demonstrated the weak bonding between the ZrSiO4 sublayers in the SiC/SiC mini-composites. The ZrSiO4 sublayer delamination mechanism was then explained based on the high-magnification morphologies found in and beside the ZrSiO4 interphase.