Tension and flexural strength of silicon carbide fibre-reinforced glass ceramics

The use of silicon carbide-type fibres to reinforce lithium aluminosilicate glass ceramics results in composites with exceptional levels of strength and toughness. It is demonstrated that composite strength and stress-strain behaviour depend onin situ fibre strength, matrix composition, test technique and atmosphere of test. Both linear and non-linear tensile stress-strain curves are obtained with ultimate strengths at 22° C approaching 700 MPa and failure strains of 1%. Flexure tests performed at up to 1000° C in air are compared with data obtained in argon to demonstrate a significant dependence of strength and failure mode on test atmosphere. Finally, glass ceramic matrix composite performance is compared with a silicon carbide fibre-reinforced epoxy system to demonstrate the importance of matrix failure strain on strength and stress-strain behaviour.