Measurement of the fracture toughness of ceramic materials using a miniaturized disk-bend test

Journal Article · Sat May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993 · Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1151-2916.1993.tb03762.x· OSTI ID:6401967

Zhang, Jimin; Ardell, A J ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (United States)

The fracture toughness of several ceramic materials has been measured using a miniaturized disk-bend test apparatus and methodology based on small disk-shaped samples 3 mm in diameter. The method involves the Vickers indentation of specimens ranging in thickness from 300 to 700 [mu]m, and testing them in a ring-on-ring bending mode. New experiments on a glass-ceramics (GC) and Si[sub 3]N[sub 4] have been performed to demonstrate the validity of the technique, supplementing the original work on ZnS. The fracture resistances of these materials increase with increasing crack length (R-curve behavior). The data are analyzed using a specific model for the relationship between fracture resistance and crack length; this model enables the R-curve behavior to be treated analytically, and the fracture resistance at infinite' crack length to be evaluated using a straightforward graphical procedure. The resulting values of the fracture toughness for ZnS, GC, and Si[sub 3]N[sub 4] are 0.74 [plus minus] 0.02, 2.18 [plus minus] 0.09, and 4.97 [plus minus] 0.07 MPa [center dot] m[sup 1/2], respectively, which are all in very good agreement with values obtained from conventional fracture toughness tests on large specimens. The results verify the utility of the miniaturized disk-bend method for measuring the fracture toughness of brittle materials.

• DOE Contract Number: FG03-86ER45264
• OSTI ID: 6401967
• Journal Information: Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of the American Ceramic Society; (United States) Vol. 76:5; ISSN 0002-7820; ISSN JACTAW
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360203* -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Mechanical Properties
CERAMICS
CRACK PROPAGATION
DATA
EQUIPMENT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FRACTURE PROPERTIES
INFORMATION
MATERIALS TESTING
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NUMERICAL DATA
PNICTIDES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON NITRIDES
TESTING
VICKERS HARDNESS
YIELD STRENGTH