DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS ENGINEERING

PAPER REVIEW

NAME OF PAPER:Delamination

failure in ceramic matrix composites:

predictions and experiments by Rajesh kumar,Greogy S. Welsh

SARBAJIT MANNA
M.E 1ST YEAR,2016
SR. NO.:12835

Numerical

DELAMINATION FAILURE IN CERAMIC MATRIX

COMPOSITES:NUMERICAL PREDICTIONS AND EXPERIMENTS
Ceramic matrix composites(CMC) have huge applications in high temperature materials
due to the presence of ceramics which can withstand high temperature and light in
weight.Here the matrix is ceramic and ceramic fibers embedded on it.higher fracture
toughness is due to its weak interface energy between fibre and matrix which helps to
absorb the energy and also debonding of the fibre-matrix interface follwed by crack
deflection,crack bridging.The evaluation of CMC turbine engine components in relevant
service environments requires the application of extreme environments (high pressure,
hot gases and moisture) and complex loads (bi-axial, vibratory and thermal gradients)
Despite using established testing methods designed for metals throughout the
components building block development (coupons, sub-elements, sub-scale components,
etc.), unanticipated failures still occur when the hardware is rolled up into a complete full
scale engine demonstrator test in part due to the complexity of the loading and service
environment. Preexisting service damage also impacts the service life CMC components
The preferred method will combine experimental and analytical aspects with the goal of
developing lifing tools to reduce the amount of testing needed and capture the complexity
of CMCs
Delamination is one of the concerned defect for the CMC.Damage due to
delamination is one of the typical fracture modes that limit the use of
CMCs.Delamination damage can be induced as a result of loads during service life or
occur during processing.FEA is perfectly suited for the analysis of delamination of CMC
components.This is especially true wen numerous delaminations are anticipated to start
and grow when subjected to an applied load and when there are no pre-existing cracks in
the CMC component.Various design component can be simulated and analysed during the
initial phase and measures can be taken to prevent failure due to delaminations effectively
As a CMC cools down from its fabrication temperature,te difference in te coefficient
of thermal expansion between the fibre and the matrix will generate thermal stresses.The
thermal expansion coefficients for the constituent materials can be entered into the FEA
software as well as the temperature range over wic the composite cools and the effect of
the residual thermal stresses can be visualized and material selection problems addressed.
The CMCs are also highly susceptible to delayed failure (stress rupture or fatigue)
even in interlaminar shear at elevated temperatures. Consequently, these inferior
interlaminar properties of CMCs have shown to have a significant effect to reduce
components lives and therefore are a design criterion in many cases (e.g., airfoils) rather
than their superior in-plane properties. Therefore, interlaminar properties of CMC
should be assessed accurately with appropriate test methods and used in component
design and life prediction to ensure overall structural reliability and integrity.

Another advantage offered by FEA is that mathematical stiffness matrix of the model
is generated inside the FEA software,thus the analyst and designers only need to input the
properties of the materials after the geometry of the CMC component has been
defined.On the other hand,there is one limitation regarding the modelling of CMCs using
FEA.In general,strengths are not accepted as inputs in most software.As a result,the
criteria of failure are often entered separately using,for example,macro
functions.Designers and analysts can then better predict using macro oriented FE
models,failures on multi directional non-uniform loading and the designs of the CMC
components has been defined.
Ceramic matrix composites can be implemented by Begin with matrix stiffness
reduction as a function of time and stress level.A simple stress model (2-D,laminate
level)is used to calculate failure function as a function of time, stress, and
temperature.After that fitting the stress rupture data as a function of stress level and
temperature and then by using incremental approach,sum influence of changing stresses
i.e. Rupture influence.Adaptively refine increments until residual strength converges to
some prescribed tolerance.Account for cyclical loading by counting reversals and
reducing remaining strength.All the things then originated under EPM program.
Phase I:
Identify and explore one or more approaches to capture the complexity of a CMC engine
sub-component/component. Develop a conceptual model (analytical or numerical) and/or
an ambient environment test to demonstrate feasibility for a relevant service environment
in Phase II. Identify and prioritize the key technical challenges and show how they could
be mitigated.
Phase II:
Apply chosen approach to a prototype sub-component/component test that captures key
environmental factors. This approach should demonstrate its ability to predict the service
life of the CMC sub-component/component based on coupon data with a determined
confidence of prediction.
Phase III Dual Use Applications:
The anticipated solutions will have a major beneficial impact on predicting the service
life of CMC components and will accelerate the time while reducing the cost to
implement new aerospace propulsion technologies for both military and commercial
applications.
Although some previous work exists on interlaminar Mode I and Mode II fracture
toughnesses of various types of CMCs, the test methods applied particularly in Mode II
fracture toughness testing showed definite drawbacks and limitations. This is primarily
due to non-existence of appropriate test methods in conjunction with complexities
associated with an anisotropic nature of CMCs and thin configurations (typically <3
millimeter) of test coupons. Hence, an immediate, urgent need exists to develop
innovative test methods to determine interlaminar Mode I and Mode II fracture
toughnesses (KI and KII) or crack growth resistances (GI and GII) unique to CMC
material systems. The pertinent test methods would provide ways to fabricate or tailor

CMCs with a desired level of damage tolerances

Ultimately, the methods would allow one to establish reliable databases and to utilize
them for design and reliability/life-prediction analyses of CMC areoengine structural
components. Also consider potential applicability of the test methods at elevated
temperatures up to 2400F (1316C).
Delamination is implemented in the current model by meshing the bottom layer of the
composite separately and connecting this layer to the rest of the plate with so called
tirebreak.Delamination occurs when Fdelamination>1.At this point the interface is
allowed to separate,simulating inter-ply cracking.A similar approach was undertaken by
Hung et al.,who also modeled delamination in LS_DYNA3D with tirebreak interfaces
and their numerical results were in good agreement with experimental data.
A finite element model or FEM of a woven composites was built and initiation and
propagation of delaminations at all possible ply interfaces in a CMC material system by using this cohesive
zone finite element approach.It can be seen that the longitudinal Young's modulus and tensile and
compressive strengths reduce by up to 15% due to the in-plane fibre damage and stress concentrations
caused by the stitches. However, reduction in these properties is quite insignificant compared to the
improvements achieved in the delamination toughness.In most cases, the failure of the specimen was
caused by crack initiation at the stitch line. To examine the effect of surface in-plane waviness caused by
the stitching loops, the top and the bottom surfaces of the CRC-AS K40 4 st/cm2 laminate were ground off.
These samples are designated as CRC-AS K40 4 st/cm2 discontinuous stitched samples. These
specimens exhibited an apparent increase in strength and a reduction in stiffness in tension.The mode II
fracture energy (GIIc) data for the material are not available. Thus, in the simulations presented in this
paper, the mode II fracture energy of the interface was assumed, with some guidance based on the work of
Choi and Kowalik [28] on CMCs and typical values used for polymer matrix composites. It can be seen
from load vs elongation curve that the load increases linearly in the case of the unstitched specimen and
when the energy release rate exceeds the critical energy release rate, the crack propagates in an unstable
manner to the central loading pin, leading to a sudden load drop. This leads to an increase in the
delamination toughness and hence a rising R-curve. Some unstable crack propagation leading to a sudden
load drop and then crack arrest at the next stitch line was also observed. This artifact was probably related
to stitch line breakage indicating that steady-state was reached.
So,CMC structures can suffer delamination type failure even in predominantly axial loading due to the
high interlaminar stress state induced by geometric features suc as ply curvature.

Reference:Delamination failure in ceramic matrix composites:Numerical

experiments :Rajesh S. Kumar,Gregory S. WelshActa Materialia 60 (2012) 28862900

predictions

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