Failure Modeling of SiC/SiC Mini-Composites in Air Oxidizing Environments

An iterative method was presented for simulation of the failure process of SiC/SiC mini-composites with pyrolytic carbon interphase exposed to air oxidizing environments under a constant load at 900 °C. This method was based on the possibility fracture strength of SiC fibers caused by random defects and the fiber stress distribution in mini-composites. The fiber strength probability model and Monte Carlo simulation were combined to generate the fracture strength along SiC fibers at 900 °C. The influence of fiber arrangement on fiber stress distribution was assessed to simplify the geometry model which was used to calculate the fiber stress distribution in the mini-composites. The failure process of the mini-composites was simulated, and the calculated oxidation life of the mini-composites matches the experimental data well with an error of −9.40%.