Tensile Damage and Fracture of Ceramic-Matrix Composites Subjected to Stochastic Loading

Abstract

In this chapter, effect of stochastic loading on tensile damage and fracture of fiber-reinforced ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) is investigated. A micromechanical constitutive model is developed considering multiple damage mechanisms under stochastic tensile loading. Relationships between stochastic stress, composite tangent modulus, interface debonding, and fibers broken are established. Effects of composite constitutive properties (i.e., fiber volume, interface shear stress, interface debonding energy, and fiber strength) and composite damage state (i.e., saturation matrix crack spacing) on the tensile stress–strain curve, composite tangent modulus, interface debonding ratio, and fibers broken fraction are analyzed. Experimental tensile damage and fracture of unidirectional and 2D SiC/SiC composites subjected to different stochastic loading stresses are predicted.