Quantification of crack area in ceramic matrix composites at single-fiber push-out testing and influence of pyrocarbon fiber coating thickness on interfacial fracture toughness

The new concept is applied to SiC-fiber reinforced SiC-matrix composites with pyrocarbon fiber coatings (SiC/PyC/SiC) produced via chemical vapor infiltration technique. The occurrence of stable and unstable crack growth, as predicted in literature, can be verified experimentally. A strong correlation between PyC fiber coating thickness and interfacial fracture toughness is found.