Interfacial Characterizations of Fiber-Reinforced Sic Composites Exhibiting Brittle and Toughened Fracture Behavior

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Abstract
A process has been developed for the fabrication of a ceramic composite of SiC fibers in a chemical vapor infiltrated (CVI) SiC matrix. Early specimens produced by this technique exhibited nonuniform fracture toughness behavior; regions of brittle fracture with no fiber pullout were interspersed with regions of good toughness where fiber pullout predominated. Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses of fiber surfaces revealed that this behavior may have been related to a thin, discontinuous layer of predominantly silica which, when present, prevented tight bonding of fibers and CVI matrix. Consequently, efforts to control interfacial bond strengths and enhance fracture toughness via fiber pretreatment with CVI overcoatings have had mixed success depending upon the overcoating specie. Chemical and microstructural characterizations by analytical electron microscopy of these composites are presented and correlated with composite mechanical property data.