High temperature tensile and fatigue behaviour of the unidirectionally reinforced MMC Ti64/SiC

The material employed in the present work is a Ti6Al4V matrix composite unidirectionally reinforced with eight plies of SiC fibres. This paper studies the tensile behaviour and the fatigue fracture processes at the operation temperatures planned for these materials (550 and 600 degreesC). The fractographic analysis and microstructural observations of the tested samples at both temperatures are also presented. These are used to determine the mechanisms of nucleation and propagation of damage until fracture. (C) 2002 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.