Cohesive zone modeling of grain boundary microcracking induced by thermal anisotropy in titanium diboride ceramics

Abstract This paper addresses the residual stresses and their effect on microcracking in polycrystalline ceramic materials. Residual stresses at microstructural level in titanium diboride ceramics, as a result of thermal expansion anisotropy, were analyzed by finite element method using Clarke’s model. Damage mechanics based cohesive zone model was applied to study grain boundary microcracking, propagation and arrest. Quantitative relations between temperature variation, grain boundary energy, grain size, final microcrack length as well as microcracking temperature are established.