A BSTRACTForeign object damage (FOD) behavior of two commercial gasturbine grade silicon nitrides, AS800 and SN282, wa determined at ambient temperature through post-impact st rength testing for thin disks impacted by steel-ball projectiles with a diameter of I.S9 mm in a velocity range from 115 to 440 m/s. AS800 silicon nitrid e ex hibited a greater FOD resistance than SN282, primarily due to its greater va lue of fracture toughness (Kid. The criti cal impact velocity in which th e correspo nd ing post-impact strength yielded the lowest va lue was V c ",,440 and 300 m/s fo r AS800 and SN282, respec ti ve ly. A unique lower-trength regime was typified fo r both silicon nitrides depending on impac t velocity, attributed to signi ficant radial cracking. The damages generated by projectile impact were typically in the fonns of ring, radial, and cone cracks with their severity and combinati on being dependent on impact velocity.U nl ike thick (3 mm) flexu re bar specimens used in the previous studies, th in (2 mm) disk target specimens exhibited a unique backside radial cracking occu rring on the reverse side just beneath the impact si tes a t and above impact veloci ty of 160 and 220 ml s fo r SN282 and AS800, respectively.
INTRODUCTIONCerami cs, because of thei r brittle natu re, are susceptible to locali zed surface damage and/or cracking when subjected to impact by foreign objects. It is also true that cerami c components may fail structu rally even by soft particles when the kinetic energy of impacting objects exceeds certai n limi ts. The latter case has been often found in aerospace engi nes in which combus tion products, metallic parti cles or small fo reign objects cause severe damage to bl ade/vane components, resulting in serious s tructural problems. Therefore, foreign obj ec t damage (FOD) associated with particle impact needs to be considered when ceramic materials are designed fo r structu ral app licatio ns. In view of this importance, a considerable amou nt of work on impact damage of brittle materials by sharp particles as we ll as by "blunt" particles or by plates has been accumula ted both ex perimentally and