9414756 Cooper This research will explore the mechanical and thermomechanical behavior of thick-film oxide - thin film synthetic fluoromica laminates at elevated temperatures. The research directly addresses questions of thermodynamic stability of reinforced engineering ceramics, direct evaluation of fiber-matrix interfacial functionality as functions of temperature and strain rate and capabilities of fabrication. While the proposed research involves fundamentals emphasizing mechanical analysis of engineered laminates and solid state reaction studies, these issues also directly address the performance and processing of continuous fiber-ceramic composites that employ trioctahedral fluoromicas as the functional interphase separating fiber and matrix. The results of this research will be directly applied to improve properties of present engineering ceramics and to development work on alumina fiber reinforced glass ceramics. ***
