Fracture toughness and evaluation of coating strength with an initial residual stress field

The effect of residual elastic stresses on the geometry of cracks which arise with contact and spontaneous failure of brittle coatings made of high-strength compounds is studied. Conditions are established for the correctness of fracture toughness K_Ic tests with indentation of a standard Vickers pyramid as applied to surface layers with an inhomogeneous structure and an initial residual stress field. Taking account of the anisotropy of fracture toughness established by experiment a reliable approach is suggested for evaluating the brittle strength of coatings in the presence of residual stresses.Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 1, pp. 51–61, January, 1994.