Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS)

DoITPoMS Teaching & Learning Packages Toughening Summary
Toughening AimsBefore you startIntroductionDuctile failureTransformation tougheningEffect of constraintsMaking tough zirconiaTRIP and TWIP steelsCrack deflectionFibre pull out How do fibres affect the Weibull modulus?Toughness in compressionSummaryQuestionsGoing further
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Summary

  1. Toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy from impact or applied stresses, and plastically deform without fracture.
  2. Failure occurs from flaws in the material which are impossible to avoid.
  3. Brittle fracture is hard to predict as it happens quickly. Ductile fracture is preferred, as it allows more time to replace a failing element without catastrophic failure occurring.
  4. The martensitic phase transformation can be exploited to toughen ceramics and metals.
  5. Crack deflection and fibre pull out toughen a material by increasing the surface area of a crack. This then requires more energy to be absorbed during propagation.
  6. Fibre-reinforced brittle materials have an increased Weibull modulus relative to their monolithic brittle matrices in the regime where they exhibit R-curve behaviour, making them more reliable to use than their monolithic matrix materials.

 

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