Crack-wake shielding and small-scale crack-tip yielding as potential mechanisms for improving the delayed-failure resistance of silicon nitride at elevated temperatures

Requirements and microstructural design criteria for employing silicon nitride in long-term structural applications at elevated temperatures are discussed according to fracture mechanics concepts. Three least engineering parameters are considered: lifetime, flaw-tolerance and deformation under stress. “Ductile” materials are found by exploitation of small-scale crack-tip yielding which arises from the softening of their grain-boundary phase. These materials, however, are likely to exhibit poor deformation resistance. Materials with a “strong” grain boundary generally show a superior deformation behaviour but are liable to brittle fracture and static-fatigue strength degradation unless shielding mechanisms in the crack-wake be operative. The present analysis evaluates and compares these two classes of materials and the respective approaches commonly followed for their densification.