Kinetics-based constitutive model for self-healing ceramics and its application to finite element analysis of Alumina/SiC composites

Abstract Self-healing ceramics are recognized as promising next-generation materials owing to their light weight, reliability against brittle fracture, and high capacity to withstand extreme temperatures. Thus, a better understanding of these materials is necessary to facilitate their use as components. In this study, we first proposed an oxidation kinetics-based constitutive model to analyze both damage and healing processes in self-healing ceramics within the framework of the finite element method. In particular, evolution laws for damage recovery due to self-healing were introduced. Subsequently, we performed three-point bending analyses mimicking actual experiments for considering the self-healing effect under certain temperature and oxygen partial pressure conditions. Our analytical results confirm that the proposed methodology can reasonably reproduce both time- and environment-dependencies of strength recovery in self-healing ceramics. In this regard, our method can be utilized for exploring the self-healing behavior linked with the microstructure distribution and fracture properties, essential for the material design.