Open AccessComparison of short and longer term loading on the creep behaviour of alumina-silicon carbide whisker composites
Author(s) -
Håkan A. Swan,
A.R. de ArellanoLópez,
Arturo Domı́nguez-Rodrı́guez,
J.L. Routbort,
M.V. Swain
Publication year - 1992
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/70780
Subject(s) - creep , materials science , composite material , silicon carbide , whisker , microstructure , whiskers , composite number , toughness , ceramic , carbide , fracture toughness
The incorporation of SiC whiskers into alumina ceramics has resulted in several improved room temperature properties of the composite such as fracture toughness, strength, erosion resistance and fatigue. The creep resistance has also been generally observed to increase with the addition of whiskers. However, significant scatter in measured secondary creep rates still exist, depending on the material and the test conditions that were utilized. The objective of this investigation was to compare two separate creep tests performed in compression using a SiC{sub w}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} material obtained from the same process batch. The differences in creep behavior between the tests could thus be ascribed to the difference in creep conditions solely. In one case the creep behavior was studied under short term loading (<3 h) conditions in air, while longer term loading (<100 h) conditions in argon were applied in the other case. The creep results and the microstructure of the samples were compared and related to each other, and to previous results in the literature