Aluminium composites are finding greater applications and widely used in aeronautical and automobile industries. It is essential to understand the fracture toughness characteristics of the composites in view of the hard ceramic particle reinforcement especially when the composite is manufactured to net shape by powder metallurgy route. This paper discusses the findings of the fracture mechanism and breaking load bearing capacity of the composite by continuous indentation with the hardened steel ball. Depth of indentation and load vs. deformation curves have been found. It is found that the processing parameters and reinforcement percentage are important. However further studies may be required to assess the fracture toughness properties of the composite. Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.