Fracture toughness of particulate composites of Al2O3/SiC, Al2O3/ZrO2 and Al2O3/ZrO2/SiC was analysed theoretically. According to the suggested particle bridging model for obtaining the R-curve height, the crack extension resistance for the long crack was linearly proportional to the residual calmping stress at the interface between the second phase and the matrix. It was also a function of the particle size and the content. It was confirmed that the rising R-curve behavior of Al2O3 containing 30 vol% SiC particles of 3${mu}{ extrm}{m}$ was owing to the strong crack bridging by SiC particles. For Al2O3/ZrO2/SiC composites, the tensional stress from the 3${mu}{ extrm}{m}$ SiC particles was large enough to activate the spontaneous transformation of the ZrO2. The crack extension resistance due to the particle bridging mechanism did not seem to be affected much by the coupled toughening, but its resultant toughness increase could be significantly smaller due to the dependency on the matrix toughness.