Mechanical properties of biomimetic ceramic with Bouligand architecture

Biomimetic Bouligand architecture is constructed in the ceramic to improve its toughness. Firstly, unidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced ZrB 2 -SiC ceramic films are achieved through a vacuum-assisted filtration method using graphene oxide. Then, ceramic films are helically assembled at a fixed angle of 30° in the graphite die based on the fiber orientation. Finally, the spark plasma sintering method was utilized to densify helical assembly carbon fiber/ceramic films. By constructing Bouligand structure, high fracture toughness (7.4 MPa·m 0.5 ) and work of fracture (∼1055 J/m 2 ) are achieved in ZrB 2 -based ceramic. The toughening mechanisms mainly are crack deflection, twisting and branching, carbon fiber pulling out, and bridging.