Evaluations of the shear strength of advanced ceramic composite materials

The shear distributions of fibre–bonded ceramic composite were investigated using finite element analysis. The effect of notch distances on the shear stress distributions in a double notch shear (DNS) specimen was investigated under static and impact loading conditions. The stress concentration near the notch roots became larger as the notch distance increased. The effects of variations in the notch distances upon the shear strength of fibre bonded ceramics (FBC) and carbon–fibre reinforced silicon nitride (CFRSN) were experimentally investigated with static and impact tests. The shear strength decreased with an increase of the notch distance for both the static and impact tests, except that the notch distance was too small. The impact shear strength was larger than the static one regardless of notch distance. The shear strength evaluated by a DNS test was smaller than that obtained from a short beam bending (SBB) test.