ANALYSIS OF FRACTURE BEHAVIOUR OF MULTILAYERS BY CANTILEVER AND CLAMPED BEAM BENDING GEOMETRY

Multilayering of metal/ceramic combinations can help to achieve better strength and toughness than the individual material constituents. The effect of elastic-plastic mismatch in multilayers on the crack driving force and eventually on fracture resistance has been analyzed in this work. The enhancement in fracture toughness by decreasing layer spacing has been predicted from finite element calculations and verified by micro-cantilever fracture tests. Further, calculations have been carried out for a more stable clamped beam bend geometry to determine R-curve behavior in such multilayers.
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