Understanding the damage tolerance of fibre-reinforced ceramic matrix composites (FRCMCs) at ambient and elevated temperatures

Fiber reinforced ceramic matrix composites (FRCMCs) have numerous applications, such as engine components, rocket re-entry nozzles and military vehicles due to their light weight, combined strength and toughness at high temperature. With the commercialization of GE LEAP engine using a ceramic shrouds, FRCMC is regarded as a game changer in key engineering areas for high energy efficiency and safety. FRCMCs have a complex microstructure and as damage accumulates it shows non-linear stress-strain behaviour. This is exactly what we are going to study. Neutrons will tell us how much the lattice has deformed in the material under load; we then take digital images of the surface of the sample to calculate the total deformation. By comparing the two, the tolerance of damage in FRCMCs can be determined and correlated to its microstructure for optimizing the material design.