Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2011
Interfaces are important in ceramic and other composite materials because they can be used to control cracks, the major source of weakness and unreliability in brittle solids. Brittle materials fracture catastrophically, but may be converted into tough composites by the injection of interfaces which retard or deflect the cracks. This paper examines the behaviour of cracks at interfaces and demonstrates several mechanisms for crack control in brittle systems. Crack stopping, dislocation formation, and crack deflection at interfaces have been illustrated by experiments on rubber models and analysed by the energy balance theory of fracture.