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Size effect on the strength of glassy carbon

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Abstract

Three-point bend tests were conducted on three sets of commercial glassy carbon specimens having volumes of V, 2V, and 4V, and mean strengths of these specimens decreased with increasing volume (from 37 to 32 to 28×103 psi). These results are in good agreement with Weibull predictions of σ(V)=1.12σ(2V)=1.26σ(4V), which are based on a uniform distribution of flaws throughout a volume of material that is characterized by a Weibull modulus of m=6.0. Moreover, the resulting strength formulation for any volume V(in.3), σ=6 V −1/6×103 psi, correlates well with widerspread data from other sources. In common with other brittle materials, glassy carbon satisfies the crack bifurcation relationship of σr 1/2=constant, and this was used to provide additional support for the validity of the volume-dependent Weibull theory. Failures in this material usually originated at interior spherical pores, and the mean size of these flaws for different sets of specimens increased with test volume.

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  1. General Atomic Company, San Diego, California, USA

    R. E. Bullock & J. L. Kaae

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Bullock, R.E., Kaae, J.L. Size effect on the strength of glassy carbon. J Mater Sci 14, 920–930 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00550723

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