Arrest of fatigue cracks in transformation-toughened ceramics

A theoretical model based on the theory of complex potentials and dislocation formalism is used to simulate fatigue crack growth in a transformation-toughened ceramic. The effective stress-intensity factor is calculated during crack growth, because it is believed to determine the crack-growth rate similar to the Paris-type growth law. For certain combinations of transformation strength and load, the effective stress-intensity factor decreases to zero, indicating crack arrest. A detailed parametric study of this phenomenon reveals that the applied load and minimum transformation strength parameter necessary to cause crack arrest are linearly related, independent of initial crack length. This suggests that a threshold stress similar to the endurance limit in the conventional stress/life (S/N) approach should be used instead of the threshold stress-intensity factor in the design of transformation-toughened ceramics against fatigue.