Determination of Interfacial Mechanical Properties of Ceramic Composites by the Compression of Micro-pillar Test Specimens

Abstract

A novel method to determine the fiber-matrix interfacial properties of ceramic matrix composites is proposed and evaluated; where micro- pillar samples containing inclined fiber/matrix interfaces were prepared from a SiC fiber reinforced SiC matrix composites then compression-tested using the nano-indentation technique. This new test method employs a simple geometry and mitigates the uncertainties associated with complex stress state in the conventional single filament push-out method for the determination of interfacial properties. Based on the test results using samples with different interface orientations , the interfacial debond shear strength and the internal friction coefficient are explicitly determined and compared with values obtained by other test methods.