Crack propagation behavior in the stacked \({{\varvec{TaC}}}\)–\({{\varvec{Gr}}}\) core–shell composites

Abstract

The catastrophic fracture of the ceramics limits their utilization in industrial applications. Particularly despite the wide potential of the Tantalum carbide (TaC) it is prone to sudden fracture due to its brittleness. Therefore, covering it with the ductile graphite (Gr) shell could improve its toughness as a shock absorber. In this regard, a percolation-based image processing framework is developed to quantify the area, periphery, and tortuosity of the generated cracks, as a measure for the crack deflection, from three distinct methods and correlate it to the shell fraction, stacking mode, and the fracture energy. As well, defining equivalent material for the core–shell composition, finite element simulations were carried out to project the local (i.e. real state) shape function versus the crack progress which has led to the estimation of the critical crack size in flexural leading. The results are useful for quantifying and optimization of the design parameters for the core–shell composites and their arrangements versus the specified application.