Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Some aspects of whisker toughening are reviewed. It is shown that several important toughened materials have a toughness dominated by the nonlinear bridging of intact whiskers. Such toughening is demonstrated to depend sensitively on the relative fracture resistance properties of the whiskers, the interface and the matrix. It is also shown that, when the interface fracture resistance is low, the frictional sliding behavior of the previously debonded interface and the whisker strength distribution exert a major influence on toughness, in accordance with pull-out phenomena.