Towards development of a super ceramic composite - initial investigation into improvement of strength and toughness of polycrystalline ceramics

Abstract : This report outlines the initial findings of the research team conducting the ERDC-directed research project Nanoscale Studies of Polycrystalline Materials with Emphasis on Ceramics Syntheses. It provides an assessment of the state-of-the-art in the multi-scale simulation methods that can predict polycrystalline ceramic mechanical properties and ceramic sintering from basic physics and material structure. The reports findings will be used to identify strengths and weaknesses in the technology, to understand how the different simulation components must fit together, and to guide follow-on research programs towards the long-term development a ceramic composite that has fracture toughness and tensile strength approximately 5 times that of existing polycrystalline ceramics, such as silicon carbide or boron carbide. If such a ceramic composite were developed, then, based on current strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, it could replace steel and aluminum for most structural applications with an attendant two-thirds reduction in weight. This would have enormous impact on Army portable protective structures, equipment, and logistics. Key to this development is the growing capability in numerical simulations to predict material behavior based on atomic and crystalline morphology. Such simulations provide new insight into the causal relationships between material structure and material behavior. The simulations can guide both polycrystalline material design and synthesis methods such as sintering.