Observed reduction in fracture toughness of AlN and AlN–Mo ceramic matrix composites with carbon additive

Abstract

The fracture toughness of AlN ceramic matrix composites containing carbon (0.5 vol%), yttria (5.0 vol%), and Mo (0.0–4.0 vol%) was evaluated using Vickers indentation. The results of these measurements were compared to a carbon-free, commercial AlN (ST-200 ALN) as well as to AlN and AlN–Mo compositions from the literature. The presence of added carbon was found to correlate with a 21% reduction in fracture toughness of the 0.0 vol% Mo carbon-containing sample, compared to commercial ST-200 AlN, in both the A-orientation (indentation parallel to the pressing direction) and the B-orientation (indentation perpendicular to the pressing direction). Mo additions at small loading fractions (~ 0.25 vol%) were found to exhibit greater-than-expected increases in fracture toughness in the A-orientation, when compared to literature data on AlN–Mo composites. This increase in fracture toughness correlates to the removal of elemental carbon in the AlN matrix through reaction with the Mo additive, forming Mo2C, localized at the Mo particle sites. Further increasing Mo loading was observed to result in generally increasing fracture toughness values, as would be expected from literature data.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 28, 2023
Source ID
10.1557/s43580-023-00596-0

Entities

People

  • Anthony E. Baros
  • Brad Hoff
  • Ender Savrun
  • Frederick W. Dynys
  • Matthew Franzi
  • Samuel C Schaub
  • Zane Cohick

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science

Readers

  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.