Contact Fatigue of a Silicon Carbide with a Heterogeneous Grain Structure

A comparative study of cyclic fatigue damage from Hertzian contacts in silicon carbide ceramics with homogeneous microstructure (fine, equiaxed grains, strong grain boundaries) and heterogeneous microstructure (coarse, contiguous elongate grains, weak interphase boundaries) is presented. Observations of the surface and subsurface damage patterns using optical microscopy reveal fundamentally different cyclic fatigue mechanisns: in the homogeneous material, by slow growth of a well‐developed cone crack outside the contact area; in the heterogeneous material, by progressive mechanical degradation within a distributed damage zone below the contact area. Scanning electron micrographs of the latter material show copious fine debris in the damage zone, consistent with a degradation mechanism by frictional attrition by forward‐reverse sliding at the weak interphase boundaries. Acoustic emission is recorded during both load and unload half‐cycles, confirming hysteresis in the sliding process. Flexure tests indicate initially slight strength losses from the cyclic contact damage in both microstructures, followed by accelerated losses at higher numbers of cycles. The underlying basis for establishing an analytical model of damage accumulation in the heterogeneous microstructure in terms of shear‐fault sliding, and for designing micro‐structures for optimal properties in fatigue and wear applications, is foreshadowed.