Abstract
The fracture toughness of the refractory hardmetal Ti5Si3, with a grain size between 5 and 6 μm, was measured using the controlled-flaw method in conjunction with the miniaturized disc-bend test. The specimens used in these experiments were 3 mm diameter and varied in thickness from 150–450 μm. They were indented using a Vickers pyramid indentor to indention loads varying from 2.9–79.2 N. Indentation cracking was experienced at all indentation loads, and R-curve behaviour was exhibited. The fracture toughness was determined to be 2.69 ± 0.21 MPam1/2 using a straightforward graphical procedure involving an empirical R-curve equation. This value is almost 30% higher than that of similar material (2.1 MPam1/2) with a larger grain size, suggesting that the fracture toughness of this material, which fractures intergranularly, might be grain-size dependent.
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Min, K.S., Ardell, A.J., Eck, S.J. et al. A small-specimen investigation of the fracture toughness of Ti5Si3 . JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE 30, 5479–5483 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351561
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351561