High cycle fatigue study of metal-ceramic co-continuous composites

Co-continuous metal-ceramic composites synthesised by the reactive metal penetration method, starting from silica preforms and a 99.5% pure aluminium alloy, were characterised in high cycle tension-compression fatigue. The tests were performed at ambient temperature, in load control and with R = −1; the fracture surfaces were observed in a scanning electron microscope. The Wöhler curve is rather flat, suggesting that these composites behave similarly to ceramics, and the fatigue limit at 107 cycles is 91 MPa.