Ceramic-matrix composites fatigue and fracture

Fiber-reinforced ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) have been shown to exhibit excellent high-temperature properties. There are some published data on the mechanical properties of Nicalon fiber-reinforced composites with various matrices, but much of the work was performed in bending, and there is little information on the failure modes in textile-reinforced CMCs, especially under cyclic-loading conditions. This article is an interim report on research that examines the tensile deformation, fracture, smoothbar fatigue, and fatigue crack-growth behavior of several CMCs. Unidirectional, two-dimensional eight-harness satin weave, and three-dimensional angle-interlock weave Nicalon fiber architectures infiltrated with polymers and then pyrolized were investigated and are compared with similar experiments on Nicalon-reinforced calcium-silicate glass-ceramic-matrix composites.