Ceramics International xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Ceramics International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ceramint

Characterization model of thermal shock resistance for fiber reinforced

brittle matrix composites over a wide range of cooling environment
temperatures
⁎
Yong Deng, Weiguo Li , Xin Zhang, Haibo Kou, Jiaxing Shao, Xuyao Zhang, Xianhe Zhang,
Ying Li, Jianzuo Ma
State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Dynamics and Control, College of Aerospace Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this study, a thermal shock resistance model over a wide range of cooling environment temperatures for fiber
Thermal shock resistance reinforced brittle matrix composites is developed. The model takes into account the combined effects of cooling
Cooling environment temperature environment temperature and temperature-dependent material parameters. The critical temperature difference
Critical temperature difference causing matrix cracking of SiC fiber reinforced reaction bonded Si3N4 composite and Nicalon fiber reinforced
Fiber reinforced brittle matrix composites
borosilicate composite are predicted over a wide range of cooling environment temperatures. The results show
Matrix cracking
that the thermal shock resistance of composites is strongly dependent on the cooling environment temperature.
Moreover, the quantitative influences of matrix Young's modulus, thermal expansion coefficient of matrix, and
interfacial shear stress on thermal shock resistance with increase of cooling environment temperature are studied
in detail. And some insights into improving the thermal shock resistance of fiber reinforced brittle matrix
composites are obtained.

1. Introduction temperature difference of SiC fiber reinforced borosilicate glass com-

Fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites are an emerging type of
high-temperature structure materials, owing to their excellent high
temperature mechanical capabilities and physical properties [1–3]. In
many applications such as gas turbine engine and thermal protection
structures, the fiber reinforced ceramic composites will be subjected to
extremely high temperature environment, and inevitably involve some
kind of thermal shock loading during service. Thus, thermal shock re-
sistance (TSR) is one of the most important limiting factors for the use
of brittle materials in high temperature environments [4–6]. The cri-
tical temperature difference that causes matrix cracking is usually used
to characterize the TSR for fiber reinforced brittle matrix composites
(FRBMCs) [5–8].
In the past, much effort has been done to study the TSR of FRBMCs
by experiment [5–7,9,10]. Twitty et al. [5] analyzed the TSR of nextel/
silica-zirconia ceramic matrix composites by water quenching, and
found that a critical temperature difference of approximately 550 °C
existed. Blissett et al. [6] performed water quench test on a unidirec-
tional SiC fiber reinforced calcium aluminosilicate (Nicalon/CAS)
composite, it showed that the critical temperature difference was
400 °C. Afterwards, Boccaccini et al. [7] reported the critical
posites (Nicalon/Duran) was 585 °C. These researches are helpful to
understand the TSR of the materials, but the cooling medium tem-
perature is limited to normal temperature range. In fact, during thermal
shock of high-temperature structure materials in service, the cooling
environment or medium temperature exhibits a wide range of tem-
perature, which is usually higher than room temperature [11]. How-
ever, limited experimental data has reported the critical temperature
difference of FRBMCs over a wide cooling environment temperatures,
owing to the limited experiment conditions or lack of test methods.
Furthermore, understanding and characterizing the mechanics of
thermal shock failure for FRBMCs call for reasonable theoretical model.
Currently, some thermal shock resistance models have been proposed
on the basis of the approach of Pagano [12] and Kim [13]. For example,
Blissett et al. [6] developed a TSR model for Nicalon/CAS composites,
which can be used to predict the critical temperature difference for the
onset of matrix cracking. Then, Boccaccini [14] proposed a semi-em-
pirical approach to predict the TSR of FRBMCs based on the models of
Pagano [12] and Kim [13]. Afterwards, Kastritseas et al. [15] estab-
lished a semi-empirical TSR model considering the effect of anisotropic
stress field generated during thermal shock, which is a great progress
compared with the previous characterization models. These existing

⁎
Correspondence to: College of Aerospace Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China.
E-mail address: wgli@cqu.edu.cn (W. Li).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.12.194
Received 16 December 2017; Received in revised form 26 December 2017; Accepted 26 December 2017
0272-8842/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article as: Deng, Y., Ceramics International (2017), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2017.12.194
Y. Deng et al.
models provide good approach for researching the TSR of composites
from the aspect of theory; however, they cannot predict the critical
temperature difference of FRBMCs over a wide range of cooling en-
vironment temperatures.
Based on our previous work [16–18], environmental temperature
has significant influence on the thermal shock behavior of ceramic
materials. Accordingly, the TSR is highly affected by cooling environ-
ment temperature and material parameters which are temperature-de-
pendent. In particular, the failure criterion of thermal shock is strongly
dependent on temperature. Therefore, it is of great importance to
consider the effect of cooling environment temperature in character-
ization of the TSR over a wide temperature range. Hence, the main
objective of this paper is to develop a thermal shock resistance model,
which can be used to predict the critical temperature difference of
FRBMCs over a wide range of cooling environment temperatures.
In this study, a thermal shock resistance model over a wide range of
cooling environment temperatures considering the cooling environ-
ment temperature and its effect on material parameters for FRBMCs is
established. When room temperature is set as the cooling environment
temperature, the model predictions are compared with experimental
data available measured by water quenching test for some SiC fiber
reinforced silicate composites, and reasonable agreement is obtained.
Moreover, the critical temperature difference over a wide range of
cooling environment temperature for a Nicalon/Duran composite and a
SiC fiber reinforced reaction bonded Si3N4 composite (SiC/RBSN) are
predicted by the model. The dependency of TSR on some material
parameters is also systematically analyzed using the model. And some
approaches to improve the TSR over a wide temperature range of
FRBMCs have been put forward. This study provides a quantitative tool
for the design and prediction of TSR for FRBMCs at high temperatures.
2. Theoretical model
When a fiber reinforced brittle matrix composite is subjected to a
thermal gradient, the early damage due to thermal shock is in the form
of matrix micro-cracks [14]. In general, the thermal shock-induced
stress corresponding to initial damage should be equal to the critical
matrix cracking stress during thermal shock process [6,12]. To establish
the theoretical thermal shock resistance model over a wide range of
cooling environment temperatures, a simple approach can be elabo-
rated as follows.
The matrix cracking occurs when the total of thermal shock-induced
stress and residual thermal stress is equal to the critical matrix cracking
stress, based on the approach of Blissett et al. [6] and Boccaccini [14].
As the thermal shock-induced stress, residual thermal stress, and critical
matrix cracking stress are very sensitive to temperature, the tempera-
ture-dependent thermal shock failure criterion for FRBMCs should be
σCM (T ′) = σTS (T ′) + σRTS (T ′) (1)
where T ′ is the cooling environment temperature, σCM (T ′) , σTS (T ′) and
σRTS (T ′) are the critical matrix cracking stress, thermal shock-induced
stress and residual thermal stress at T ′, respectively.
When a ceramic material is subjected to an abrupt temperature
decrement ( ΔT ), the surface thermal shock-induced stress under the
assumption of plane stress is [19]:
Eα
σTS = C ΔT
1−ν (2)
where σTS is the thermal shock-induced stress; E , α and ν are the
Young's modulus, thermal expansion coefficient and Poisson's ratio,
respectively; C is the thermal stress reduction factor depending on the
thermal shock conditions, which can be quantified by the Biot modulus,
β, given by [4]
ah
β=
k (3)
2
Ceramics International xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
where h is the heat transfer coefficient between quenching medium and
specimen; the coefficient a represents the characteristic dimension of
specimen; k is the thermal conductivity of the specimen. Then, ac-
cording to the study by Kastritseas et al. [15], the thermal shock-in-
duced stress in matrix surface for FRBMCs, which considers the influ-
ence of the anisotropic thermal stress field produced during thermal
shock, has been given by
α1 (Ec1 + νc1 Ec22 α c 2/ Ec1 α c1 ) Em
σTS = C ΔT
(1 − νc21 Ec 2/ Ec1 ) Ec1 (4)
where Ec1 = Em Vm + Ef Vf , Ec 2 = Em Ef /(Em Vf + Ef Vm) , νc1 =νm Vm + νf Vf ,
α c1 = αm Vm + αf Vf , α c 2 = (1 + νm) αm Vm + (1 +νf ) αf Vf − α c1 νc1
the subscripts, 1 and 2, refer to the directions parallel to fiber and
perpendicular to fiber, respectively; the subscripts, c, m and f refer to
the composites, matrix and fiber, respectively; V is the volume content.
It is noted that the cooling environment temperature is usually
much higher than room temperature [16,17], during service of high-
temperature structure materials. Moreover, in high temperature en-
vironment, the thermo-mechanical properties of materials are highly
sensitive to temperature [10,16–18]. Considering the influence of
temperature on material parameters, the thermal shock-induced stress
of FRBMCs at cooling environment temperature, T ′, should be:
σTS (T ′) = Cα c1 (T ′) φ (T ′) ΔTc (T ′) (5)
Em (T ′)[Ec1 (T ′) + νc1 (T ′) Ec22 (T ′) α c 2 (T ′) / Ec1 (T ′) α c1 (T ′)]
where φ (T ′) = Ec1 (T ′)[1 − νc21 (T ′) Ec 2 (T ′) / Ec1 (T ′)]
T ′ is the cooling environment temperature, ΔTc (T ′) is the critical
temperature difference corresponding to matrix cracking of composite
at T ′; so TI = T ′ + ΔTc (T ′) is the initial thermal shock temperature,
σTS (T ′) is the thermal shock-induced stress at T ′; α (T ′) , E (T ′) and ν (T ′)
are the thermal expansion coefficient, Young's modulus, and Poisson's
ratio at T ′, respectively.
Moreover, the temperature-dependent critical matrix cracking stress
in composites, σcy (T ) , for unidirectional fiber reinforced ceramic com-
posites is given in our previous work [20]:
1
T 3
⎡ 12τ (T ) γmo Ec2 (T ) Ef (T ) Vf2 ⎡ ∫T0 CP (T ) dT ⎤ ⎤
σcy (T ) = ⎢ 2 ⎢1 − Tm ⎥⎥
⎢ Em (T ) Vm R ⎢ ∫T0 CP (T ) dT ⎥ ⎥
⎣ ⎣ ⎦⎦ (6)
where Ec (T ) and τ (T ) are the Young's modulus and interfacial shear
stress of composite at temperature T , respectively; γmo is the matrix
fracture surface energy at an arbitrary reference temperature T0 ; R is the
fiber radius; Cp (T ) is the specific heat capacity of matrix for constant p
pressure and temperature T ; Tm is the melting point of matrix.
So let the temperature T in Eq. (6) equals to the cooling environ-
ment temperature, T ′, during thermal shock, the critical matrix
cracking stress in matrix for FRBMCs at T ′ should be
Em (T ′)
σCM (T ′) = σcy (T ′)
Ec1 (T ′)
1
T′ 3
⎡ 6τ (T ′) Γmo Em (T ′) Ef (T ′) Vf2 ⎡ ∫T0 CP (T ) dT ⎤ ⎤
=⎢ ⎢1 − Tm ⎥⎥
⎢ Ec1 (T ′) Vm R ⎢ ∫T0 CP (T ) dT ⎥ ⎥
⎣ ⎣ ⎦⎦ (7)
where σCM (T ′) is the critical matrix cracking stress in matrix at T ′;
Γmo = 2γmo , is the fracture energy of matrix at reference temperature T0 ;
Em (T ′) , Ef (T ′) and Ec1 (T ′) are the Young's modulus of matrix, fiber and
composites at T ′, respectively; τ (T ′) is the interfacial shear stress at T ′.
Then, it is known that the thermo-mechanical responses of FRBMCs
are strongly affected by the existence of residual thermal stress devel-
oped during composites processing, due to the thermal expansion
mismatch between fibers and matrix. Thus, the effect of residual
thermal stress on TSR must be considered. The residual thermal stress in
the composite as a function of temperature, σRTS (T ) , can be given as
follow [20]
Y. Deng et al. Ceramics International xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Ef (T ) Vf ϕt (T )
σRTS (T ) = A [αf (T )−αm (T )](T −Tproc )
1−νm (8)
0.5(1 + Ec1 (T ) / Ef (T ))
where ϕt (T ) = ⎡ 1 − 0.5(1 − 2ν )[1 − E (T ) / E (T )] / (1 − ν ) ⎤
⎣ c1 c1 f c1 ⎦
Tproc is the processing temperature of material; αf (T ) and αm (T ) are
the mean coefficients of thermal expansion for fiber and matrix from
temperature T to Tproc, respectively; νm and νc1 are the Poisson's ratio of
matrix and composite, respectively; A is the residual thermal stress
release factor, which characterizes the release of residual thermal stress
due to weak fiber/matrix interface and micro-flaws in composites [21].
And the value of A is less than one.
In Eq. (8), let the temperature T equals to the T ′, the residual
thermal stress in matrix as a function of cooling environment tem-
perature can be expressed as:
Ef (T ′) Em (T ′) Vf ϕt (T ′) Fig. 1. The predicted and experimental values of ΔTc by water quench test.
σRTS (T ′) = A [αf (T ′)−αm (T ′)](T ′−Tproc )
Ec1 (T ′)[1−νm (T ′)] (9)
0.5[1 + E (T ′) / E (T ′)]
c1 f necessary to do one experiment for determining the value of C when
where ϕt (T ′) = ⎡ 1 − 0.5[1 − 2ν (T ′)][1 − E (T ′) / E (T ′)] / [1 − ν (T ′)] ⎤
⎣ c1 c1 f c1 ⎦ predicting the ΔTc of FRBMCs over a wide temperature range using our
Finally, submitting Eqs. (5), (7) and (9) into Eq. (1), the thermal model. In addition, based on the residual thermal stress reported by
shock resistance model for FRBMCs over a wide range of cooling en- Beyerle et al. [22] and Eq. (8), the residual thermal stress release factor,
vironment temperatures is obtained A, is set as 0.232 for Nicalon fiber reinforced lithium aluminosilicate
(Nicalon/LAS). For Nicalon/Duran composites and Nicalon/Pyrex
ΔTc (T ′)
composites, the residual thermal stress is ignored due to the same
1
⎧ 6τ (T ′) Γmo Em (T ′) Ef (T ′) V 2 ∫TT ′ CP (T ) dT ⎤ ⎤3 ⎫ thermal expansion coefficient between fibers and matrix.
1 ⎪⎡ f ⎡
1 − T0m + ⎪ As can been seen from Fig. 1, our model predictions of ΔTc for Ni-
⎢ Ec1 (T ′) Vm R ⎢ ∫T0 CP (T ) dT ⎥ ⎥
= ⎣ ⎣ ⎦ ⎦
Cα1 (T ′) φ (T ′) ⎨ ⎬ calon/Duran, Nicalon/Pyrex, and Nicalon/LAS composites are in good
⎪ A Ef (T ′) Em (T ′) Vf ϕt (T ′) [α (T ′) − α (T ′)](T ′ − T ) ⎪ agreement with the experimental results by water quench test. For
E (T ′)[1 − ν (T ′)] f m proc
⎩ c1 m ⎭ Nicalon/LAS composites, the predicted data is larger than the experi-
(10) mental data, which is likely due to the effect of C. Meanwhile, the
where ΔTc (T ′) is the critical temperature difference corresponding to predictions by Kastritseas et al. [15] model are also shown in Fig. 1,
matrix cracking at cooling environment temperature T ′. their model predictions overestimated the ΔTc of all FRBMCs. Then,
The model not only provides an approach for predicting the TSR of Kastritseas et al. developed a modified Coulomb-type model with con-
FRBMCs over a wide temperature range, but also provides a technical sideration of thermal shock stress to estimate the interfacial shear stress
means for quantitatively estimating the effects of cooling environment [15], i.e
temperature and temperature-dependent material parameters on the
critical temperature difference corresponding to matrix cracking of
FRBMCs.
⎡CΔT ν12 E2 α1 + E2 α2 + −
⎢
τ = −μ ⎢
2 E /E
1 − ν12 2 1 ( Em Ef
Ef (1 + νm) + Em (1 − νf ) R)
Ar ⎤
⎥
Em Vm (αm − αf ) ⎥
⎢− 2[(1 − ν12) − 0.5(1 − 2ν12)(1 − Ec1 / E ) / (1 − ν12)] (Tproc − TI) ⎥
⎣ f
⎦ (11)
3. Results and discussion
where μ is the coefficient of friction between fiber and matrix, Ar is the
3.1. Model verification roughness amplitude of the fiber surface, TI is the initial thermal shock
temperature. This model provided an accurate approach to calculate
In order to verify the present thermal shock resistance model, the the interfacial shear stress, however, the TI in Eq. (11) relies on the
critical temperature difference, ΔTc, for some Nicalon fiber reinforced thermal shock experiment, and the value of μ and Ar of material are not
silicate composites (Nicalon/Duran composites, Nicalon/Pyrex com- easy to obtain.
posites, and Nicalon fiber reinforced lithium aluminosilicate) are pre- The modified interfacial shear stress calculated by Eq. (11) was also
dicted and compared with experimental results. Due to the lack of ex- used to predict the ΔTc by Kastritseas et al. In Fig. 1, their model pre-
perimental data at high cooling environment temperatures, the ΔTc for dictions using modified interfacial shear stress (C=0.66) under-
water quench test is used for comparison at room temperature. The estimated the ΔTc of all FRBMCs. Then, C was also set as 0.55 (the
relative material parameters in the calculations at normal temperature average limits to the value of C in Blissett et al. [6] and Boccaccini [14]
are shown in Table 1 [6,14,15,22–26]. In this work, the value of C in work) to calculate the ΔTc by Kastritseas et al., and Fig. 1 shows that
the model is set as 0.66, which was reported by Kastritseas et al. [15]. their modified model predictions (C=0.55) have a good consistency
The value of C may be different for other dissimilar FRBMCs, due to the with the ΔTc of all FRBMCs. But their model cannot be used to predict
influence of the thermal shock conditions (thermal conductivity, char- ΔTc over a wide range of cooling environment temperatures.
acteristic dimension and heat transfer coefficient). In that case, it is In addition, the ΔTc for Nicalon/Duran composites and SiC/RBSN

Table 1
The relative material parameters at room temperature [6,14,15,22–26].

Property Material Em Ef Vm Vf C o νf νm τ αm αf ΔTf

Γm
GPa GPa J/m2 MPa 10−6/ °C 10−6/ °C °C

Nicalon/Duran 63 190 0.6 0.4 0.66 7.5 0.2 0.2 5.2 3.3 3.3 1000
Nicalon/Pyrex 63 190 0.5 0.5 0.66 7.5 0.2 0.2 3.1 3.3 3.3 1000
Nicalon/LAS 83 190 0.6 0.4 0.66 30 0.2 0.3 1.4 0.9 3.3 1350

3
Y. Deng et al. Ceramics International xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 2
The relative material parameters of SiC/RBSN composites and Nicalon/Duran composites [21,23,27,28].

SiC/RBSN composites Nicalon/Duran

Temperature(°C) Ef (GPa) Em (GPa) τ (MPa) Temperature(°C) Ef (GPa) Em (GPa) τ (MPa)

24 391 110 7.1 24 190 63 5.2

600 379 98 11.4 100 190 63 5.92
800 375 94 8.9 200 190 63 4.84
1000 371 90 8.4 300 190 63 3.98
1400 364 82 3.6 400 190 63 5.92
500 190 63 10.44
600 185 55 11.44

Table 3
Material parameters for SiC/RBSN composites and Nicalon/Duran composites [20,21,29–34].

Material parameters Values and expressions

SiC/RBSN Nicalon/Duran

R(μm) 70 8
A 0.1878
νm 0.22 0.2
νf 0.22 0.2
Vm 0.741 0.6
Vf 0.259 0.4
o 72 7.5
Γm (J / m2 )
Tproc (°C) 1200 1000
Tm(°C) 1878 800
T0(°C) 24 24
C 0.66 0.66
αf (T ) (×10−6°C−1) 3.98 + 2.23 × 10−3 (T + 273) 3.19 + 3.6 × 10−3T − 1.68 × 10−6T2
αm (T )(×10−6°C−1) 1.5617 + 6 × 10−3T 1.123 + 1.607 × 0.01 × (273 + T )−
3.496 × 10−5 (273 + T )2 + 2.435 × 10−8 (273 + T )3
Cp (T )(cal/ mol) Cp (T ) = 76.337 + 109.039 × 10−3T Cp (T ) = 48.5 − 20 × 10−3T 24°C < T < 450°C
− 6.535 × 105T −2 − 27.083 × 10−6T2 − 10.9 × 105T −2 + 18.9 × 10−6T2
Cp (T ) = 67.1 + 12.1 × 10−3T 450°C < T < 574°C
− 30 × 105T −2 + 18.9 × 10−6T2
Cp (T ) = 79.1−10.8 × 10−3T 574°C < T < 800°C
− 22.3 × 105T −2 + 6.3 × 10−6T2

composites over a wide range of cooling environment temperatures are

predicted by our model. The relative material parameters used in Eq.
(10) are shown in Table 2 [21,23,27,28] and Table 3 [20,21,29–34].
The effect of temperature on Poisson's ratio is neglected due to its weak
temperature dependence [20]. For SiC/RBSN composites, the residual
thermal stress release factor (A) is set as 0.1878, which is given in our
previous work [20].
Fig. 2 shows the predicted ΔTc for Nicalon/Duran composites with
different cooling environment temperatures. The model prediction and
experimental data by water quench test are in excellent agreement at
room temperature. Meanwhile, one can see that the ΔTc first decreases
drastically with increasing temperature, and then increases slightly
from 300 °C to 500 °C, which is likely due to the increase of interfacial
shear stress at higher temperatures. At 600 °C, but a decrease of ΔTc
occurs, which is due to the decrease of critical matrix cracking stress.
When the stress reduction factor, C, is set as one, the predicted data of
ΔTc is also plotted in Fig. 2 to analyze the effect of C on TSR. This
Fig. 2. The ΔTc of Nicalon/Duran composites over a wide range of cooling environment
treatment (let C = 1) corresponds to the situation that temperature temperatures.
changes infinitely fast in the specimen surface. The predicted ΔTc (C =
1) is much lower than the corresponding data (C = 0.66). As we know,
the stress reduction factor is strongly dependent on the heat transfer Fig. 3 shows the variation of the predicted ΔTc and residual thermal
coefficient between test specimen and cooling environment. The grater stress of SiC/RBSN composites with cooling environment temperature.
of the heat transfer coefficient, the greater of the temperature difference We can easily find that both the ΔTc and the residual thermal stress
on specimen surface for a given composite, which increases the prob- decrease with increase of cooling environment temperature. Moreover,
ability of thermal shock damage. Therefore, decreasing C is a good the predicted ΔTc without consideration of the residual thermal stress is
approach to improve the TSR of composites by new manufacturing also shown in Fig. 3 to analyze its effect on TSR of composites. It in-
technique. dicates that the predicted ΔTc with consideration of residual thermal

4
Y. Deng et al.
Fig. 3. The ΔTc and residual thermal stress of SiC/RBSN composites over a wide range of
cooling environment temperatures.
stress is higher than that without considering it, when temperature is
less than 1200 °C. And the two categories of values gradually approach
with the release of residual thermal stress at high temperatures. In fact,
the matrix is under compressive stress below processing temperature
when the thermal expansion coefficient of fiber is higher than that of
matrix. The compressive stress can restrain matrix cracking caused by
thermal shock under cooling, which is helpful to increase the ΔTc of
composites. Conversely, if the thermal expansion coefficient of fiber is
lower than that of matrix, then the matrix is under tensile stress, which
could decrease the ΔTc of composites. Therefore, introducing com-
pressive prestress into composites during fabrication is very useful to
improve the TSR of material under cooling. The above results in Section
3.1 demonstrate the significant effect of thermal environment on the
thermal shock behavior of FRBMCs.
3.2. Influence factors analysis
In order to study the influence of material parameters on TSR of
FRBMCs, the sensitivity of critical temperature difference to matrix
Young's modulus, thermal expansion coefficient of matrix and inter-
facial shear stress over a wide range of cooling environment tempera-
tures has been studied systematically in this part.
Fig. 4 shows the variation of ΔTc with the change of matrix Young's
modulus, and the vertical coordinate,[Δ(ΔTc)]/ΔTc, represents the ratio
of the variation of ΔTc to the initial value. We can find that reducing
matrix Young's modulus can increase ΔTc to a great degree, especially at
Fig. 4. The sensitivity of ΔTc to Young's modulus of matrix at different cooling en-
vironment temperatures.
5
Ceramics International xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx
Fig. 5. The sensitivity of ΔTc to thermal expansion coefficient of matrix at different
cooling environment temperatures.
high cooling environment temperatures. The sensitivity of ΔTc to
Young's modulus of matrix increases with an increase in temperature.
Further, both the thermal shock-induced stress and residual thermal
stress are dependent on the thermal expansion coefficient. To research
its quantitative influence on ΔTc, the variation of ΔTc with the change of
thermal expansion coefficient of matrix in the temperature range
24–1400 °C is illustrated in Fig. 5. As it can be seen, decreasing the
thermal expansion coefficient of matrix is beneficial to increase ΔTc of
composites. And the sensitivity of ΔTc to thermal expansion coefficient
of matrix decreases with increasing temperature. Compared with the
result of Fig. 4, one can find that decreasing the matrix Young's mod-
ulus is more efficient to improve the TSR of composites than decreasing
the thermal expansion coefficient of matrix, especially at high cooling
environment temperatures.
In addition, the interfacial shear stress is a key factor determining
the mechanical behavior of FRBMCs. The effect of interfacial shear
stress on ΔTc with different cooling environment temperatures is shown
in Fig. 6. It indicates that the sensitivity of ΔTc to interfacial shear stress
increases with increasing temperature. Compared with the results of
Figs. 4 and 5, the sensitivity of ΔTc to interfacial shear stress is lower
than Young's modulus and thermal expansion coefficient of matrix for
the SiC/RBSN composites. These conclusions will help us to explore
those potential materials with good thermal shock resistance needed for
extreme engineering applications.
Fig. 6. The sensitivity of ΔTc to interfacial shear stress at different cooling environment
temperatures.
Y. Deng et al.
4. Conclusions
In summary, based on the temperature-dependent first matrix
cracking stress model in our previous work and the thermal shock-in-
duced stress model of Kastritseas et al., a thermal shock resistance
model over a wide range of cooling environment temperatures with
temperature-dependent material parameter for fiber reinforced brittle
matrix composite is established. The model predictions are consistent
with the experimental data of ΔTc for some SiC fiber reinforced silicate
composites by water quench test at room temperature. Moreover, the
ΔTc of Nicalon/Duran composites and SiC/RBSN composites over a
wide range of cooling environment temperatures are predicted. It shows
that the ΔTc is strongly dependent on the cooling environment tem-
perature and residual thermal stress in composites. And decreasing the
surface heat transfer coefficient and introducing compressive prestress
into composites during fabrication are beneficial to improve the
thermal shock resistance of composite material under cooling.
In addition, the sensitivity of ΔTc to matrix Young's modulus,
thermal expansion coefficient of matrix, and interfacial shear stress
with increase of cooling environment temperature has been studied
systematically using the proposed model. The results show that in-
creasing interfacial shear stress and decreasing Young's modulus and
thermal expansion coefficient of matrix are helpful to improve the
thermal shock resistance of composites over a wide temperature range.
Furthermore, the ΔTc is more sensitive to thermal expansion coefficient
of matrix at low cooling environment temperature, and more sensitive
to matrix Young's modulus and interfacial shear stress at high cooling
environment temperature.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China [grant numbers 11727802 and 11472066]; the
Chongqing University Graduate Student Research Innovation Project
[grant number CYS17016]; the National Natural Science Foundation of
China [grant number 11672050]; the Fundamental Research Funds for
the Central Universities [grant number 106112017CDJQJ328840]; and
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project [grant number
2016M592636].
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