Mécanismes d'endommagement d'un composite à matrice céramique revêtu d'une barrière environnementale sous sollicitations multiphysiques

This study is part of the development of the next generation of aircraft engines. Ceramic matrix composites (CMC) made from SiC/SiC are today promising materials for use in aircraft engines hot areas. However, the engine extreme environment requires the CMC to be protected by an environmental barrier coating (EBC) against oxidizing species. In this context, this study consisted in characterizing, modeling and understanding the damage mechanisms of the CMC/EBC system under coupled multiphysical loadings (thermal/mechanical and thermal/oxidation) representative of engine conditions. To address this issue, several test configurations were set up at high temperature (>1200°C) under thermal gradients (laser heating) coupled with mechanical loading (4-point bend test) or an oxidizing environment (steam). Thanks to the instrumentation used (damage detection by acoustic emission, measurement of thermal and kinematic fields), post-mortem SEM analysis and finite element simulations, the impact of loading and stress conditions on the coating cracking were studied. The coupling between coating cracking and system oxidation was also investigated.