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Anisotropy in the compression strength of hot-pressed ceramics

  • Ceramics
  • Published:
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Abstract

It is well documented that the hot-pressing procedures used for many strategic ceramics may introduce microstructural texturing that can lead to anisotropic mechanical properties. Therefore, knowing the existence and extent of anisotropy and any potential impact on properties is important to proper application of these ceramics. Many hot-pressed ceramics are produced as plates that are relatively thin (around 25 mm or less). This makes it challenging to identify anisotropy in commonly measured properties such as flexure strength and fracture toughness since the standard beam specimens used to determine these properties are typically more than 25 mm in length. However, the use of a small dumbbell-shaped specimen has been successfully useful to determine the compression strength of several advanced ceramics. In this study, small dumbbell specimens were machined from a hot-pressed boron carbide and three hot-pressed silicon carbides. The major axis of the specimen was aligned at 0° (vertical), 45°, or 90° (horizontal) to the hot-pressing direction to determine any potential intrinsic anisotropy in the compression strength. Specimens were tested across a range of strain rates to discern the presence of rate effects on the compressive strength and fracture behavior of these strategic materials.

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Notes

  1. The detailed microstructural analysis needed to determine the presence and extent of any microstructural texturing would require extensive microstructural analysis of each ceramic using computed tomography (micro or nano) which beyond the scope of this effort.

  2. Wyoming Test Fixtures, Inc 2960 Mill Creek Canyon Rd, Salt Lake City, UT 84109.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support from Mr. Tucker Moore, SURVICE Engineering Company, to obtain the microstructural images in Fig. 1.

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  1. John J. Pittari III

    Present address: The Boeing Company, Jacksonville, FL, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, 21005, USA

    Jeffrey J. Swab, John J. Pittari III & Christopher S. Meredith

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Swab, J.J., Pittari, J.J. & Meredith, C.S. Anisotropy in the compression strength of hot-pressed ceramics. J Mater Sci 58, 15603–15616 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-09011-3

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