Ceramic materials have desirable characteristics for use in high temperature applications, but due to their brittle nature they were avoided until the recent advent of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) in which ceramic fibers are inserted into a ceramic matrix to toughen the material by retarding crack growth. This work investigates the role of sliding at interfaces in making brittle matrix composites (BMCs) more crack resistant A two-dimensional study investigates the effects of roughness, toughness, and friction on the fracture behavior of BMCs. This study was then expanded to an axisymmetric study of a fiber engulfed by a crack. The results indicate that there are significant interaction effects between friction and the other parameters. To achieve 'long' sliding lengths, the magnitude of the interfacial critical energy release rate must be significantly less than the magnitude required to ensure crack deflection The study then investigates the three-dimensional nature of a crack as it flows past a fiber. A computational analysis is performed to determine the crack propagation angle at a frictional interface. The computational results show good agreement with a novel experimental analysis using modified DCDC specimens. The experiments show, in real time, the propagation of a crack which is perpendicular to and intersects a frictional interface