THE QUANTITATIVE MICROSTRUCTURE-PROPERTY CORRELATIONS OF COMPOSITE AND POROUS MATERIALS: AN ENGINEERING TOOL FOR DESIGNING NEW MATERIALS

This paper reports theoretical and experimental work carried out in the field of microstructure-property correlations of porous and composite materials. It deals with the aim, to get a better scientific insight into the effects of microstructure on the properties of multiphase materials and to use the results technologically for designing purposes. In this context porous materials are considered to be the limiting case of multiphase materials, when one phase becomes gaseous. Equations for the mechanical properties of two phase materials are presented and the theory of the microstructure-property correlation via microstructural modelling is described. To satisfy the demand of maximun reliability from a theoretical as well as practical point of view, no fitting factors have been introduced into the equations and the properties of a matrix type composite (porous) material remain only dependent on the microstructural features and the concentration of the included phase. Finally, the case of the thermal shock resistance of porous ceramics is presented as an example of application of the microstructure-property correlations to design new materials with improved properties.