A thermodamage strength theoretical model of ceramic materials taking into account the effect of residual stress

A thermodamage strength theoretical model taking into account the effect of residual stress was established and applied to each temperature phase based on the study of effects of various physical mechanisms on the fracture strength of ultrahigh-temperature ceramics. The effects of SiC particle size, crack size, and SiC particle volume fraction on strength corresponding to different temperatures were studied in detail. This study showed that when flaw size is not large, the bigger SiC particle size results in the greater effect of tensile residual stress in the matrix grains on strength reduction, and this prediction coincides with experimental results; and the residual stress and the combined effort of particle size and crack size play important roles in controlling material strength.