Abstract
Because of their high yield strength and hardness as well as their brittle fracture characteristics the behavior of cracks in ceramics can be described within the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics. For fracture toughness (K Ic) measurements the test techniques which were developed for metallic materials are unfavorable, as an economical preparation is impossible in the case of ceramic materials. Therefore simple geometries e.g. bend bars became a preferred specimen shape for K Ic measurements. A major difficulty arises when sharp and well-defined pre-cracks for crack propagation studies have to be created. Several methods to overcome this problem are introduced. Additionally, methods to investigate small amounts of material are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Ashby MF, Jones DRH (1986) Engineering materials 2. Pergamon Press, Oxford
Ashby MF (2010) Materials selection in mechanical design. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford
Danzer R, Lube T, Morrell R, Supancic P (2013) Mechanical properties of ceramics. In: Somiya S (ed) Handbook of advanced ceramics, 2nd edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 609–632
Danzer R (2007) Fracture mechanics of ceramics—a short introduction. Key Eng Mat 333:77–86. doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.333.77
Griffith AA (1920) The phenomenon of rupture and flow in solids. Philos Trans R Soc Lond A221:163–198
Irwin GR (1958) Fracture. In: Flügge S (ed) Handbuch der Physik, vol 6. Springer, Berlin, pp 551–589
Ashby MF, Jones DRH (1980) Engineering materials 1. International series on materials science and technology. Pergamon Press, Oxford
Gross D, Seelig T (2006) Fracture mechanics. Mechanical engineering series. Springer, Berlin
Tada H, Paris P, Irwin GR (1985) The stress analysis handbook. Del Research Corporation, St. Louis
Murakami Y (1986) The stress intensity factor handbook. Pergamon Press, New York
Munz D, Fett T (1999) Ceramics. Springer series in materials science, vol 36. Springer, Berlin
Danzer R (1992) A general strength distribution function for brittle materials. J Eur Ceram Soc 10:461–472
Jayatilaka AdS, Trustrum K (1977) Statistical approach to brittle fracture. J Mater Sci 12:1426–1430
Evans AG (1982) Structural reliability: a process-dependent phenomenon. J Am Ceram Soc 65(3):127–137
Danzer R, Lube T, Supancic P, Damani R (2008) Fracture of ceramics. Adv Eng Mater 10(4):275–298. doi:10.1002/adem.200700347
Weibull W (1939) A statistical theory of the strength of materials, vol 151. Ingeniörsvetenskapsakademiens Handlingar 151. Generalstabens Litografiska Anstalts Förlag, Stockholm
Danzer R (2014) On the relationship between ceramic strength and the requirements for mechanical design. J Eur Ceram Soc 34:3435–3460. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2014.04.026
Pfeiffer W, Hollstein T (1997) Influrence of grinding parameters on strength-dominating near-surface characteristics of silicon nitride ceramics. J Eur Ceram Soc 17:487–494
Becher PF (1991) Microstructural design of toughened ceramics. J Am Ceram Soc 74(2):222–269
Evans AG (1990) Perspective on the development of high-toughness ceramics. J Am Ceram Soc 73(2):187–206
Swanson PL, Fairbanks CJ, Lawn BR, Mai Y-M, Hockey BJ (1987) Crack-interface grain bridging as a fracture resistance mechanism in ceramics: I. Experimental study on alumina. J Am Ceram Soc 70:279–289
Faber KT, Evans AG (1983) Crack deflection processes—II: experiments. Acta Metall 31(4):577–584
Faber KT, Evans AG (1983) Crack deflection processes—I: theory. Acta Metall 31(4):565–576
Wachtman JB (1996) Mechanical properties of ceramics. Wiley-Interscience, New York
Fünfschilling S, Fett T, Hoffmann MJ, Oberacker R, Schwind T, Wippler J, Böhlke T, Özcoban H, Schneider GA, Becher PF, Kruzic JJ (2011) Mechanisms of toughening in silicon nitrides: the roles of crack bridging and microstructure. Acta Mater 59:3978–3989
ASTM E399 (2005) Standard test method for linear-elastic plane-strain fracture toughness KIc of metallic materials
Gilman IJ (1960) Direct measurements of surface energies of crystals. J Appl Phys 31(12):2208–2218
Evans AG (1974) Fracture mechanics determination. In: Bradt RC, Hasselman DPH, Lange FF (eds) Concepts, flaws and fractography, vol 1. Fracture mechanics of ceramics. Plenum, New York, pp 17–47
Wiederhorn SM (1967) Influence of water vapour on crack propagation in soda-lime glass. J Am Ceram Soc 50:407–414
Danzer R (1994) Sub-critical crack growth in ceramics. In: Cahn RW, Brook R (eds) Encyclopedia of advanced materials, vol 4. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 2693–2698
Hannink RHJ, Kelly PM, Muddle BC (2000) Transformation toughening in zirconia-containing ceramics. J Am Ceram Soc 83(3):461–487
Warren R, Johannesson B (1984) Creation of stable cracks in hardmetals using ‘bridge’ indentation. Powder Metall 27(1):25–29
Nose T, Fujii T (1988) Evaluation of fracture toughness for ceramic materials by a single-edge-precracked-beam method. J Am Ceram Soc 71(5):328–333
Ray AK (1998) A new technique for precracking ceramic specimens in fatigue and fracture. J Eur Ceram Soc 18:1655–1662
Fett T, Munz D, Thun G (2001) A toughness test device with opposite roller loading. Eng Fract Mech 68(1):29–38
Morrell R, Parfitt M (2005) A stiff facility for controlled pre-cracking in fracture toughness tests. Measurement note DEPC (MN) 034. NPL, Teddington
Primas RJ, Gstrein R (1997) ESIS TC6 round robin on fracture toughness. Fatigue Fract Eng Mater Struct 20(4):513–532. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2695.1997.tb00284.x
ISO 15732 (2003) Fine ceramics (advanced ceramics, advanced technical ceramics)—test method for fracture toughness of monolithic ceramics at room temperature by single edge precracked beam (SEPB) method
ASTM C1421 (2010) Standard test methods for determination of fracture toughness of advanced ceramics at ambient temperature
Munz D, Bubsey RT, Shannon JI Jr (1980) Fracture toughness determination of Al2O3 using four-point-bend specimens with straight-through and chevron-notches. J Am Ceram Soc 63(5–6):300–305
Sigl LS (1991) On the stability of cracks in flexure specimens. Int J Fract 51(3):241–254
EN 14425-3 (2010) Advanced technical ceramics—test methods for determination of fracture toughness of monolithic ceramics—part 3: Chevron notched beam (CNB) method
ISO 24370 (2005) Fine ceramics (advanced ceramics, advanced technical ceramics)—test method for fracture toughness of monolithic ceramics at room temperature by chevron-notched beam (CNB) method (similar to CEN EN 14425-3)
Lawn BR (1993) Fracture of brittle solids. Cambridge solid state science series, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Pabst RF (1974) Determination of KIc-factors with diamond saw-cuts in ceramic materials. In: Bradt RC, Hasselman DPH, Lange FF (eds) Microstructure, materials and applications, vol 2. Fracture mechanics of ceramics. Plenum, New York, pp 555–565
Nishida T, Hanaki Y, Pezzotti G (1994) Effect of notch-root radius on the fracture toughness of a fine-grained alumina. J Am Ceram Soc 77(2):606–608
Damani R, Gstrein R, Danzer R (1996) Critical notch root radius in SENB-S fracture toughness testing. J Eur Ceram Soc 16:695–702. doi:10.1016/0955-2219(95)00197-2
Kübler J, Danzer R, Fett T, Damani R (1999) Notch width—theory and model. In: Kübler J (ed) Fracture toughness of ceramics using SEVNB method round robin. VAMAS report no. 37, ESIS document D2-99
Damani R, Schuster C, Danzer R (1997) Polished notch modification of SENB-S fracture toughness testing. J Eur Ceram Soc 17(14):1685–1689. doi:10.1016/S0955-2219(97)00024-1
Kübler J (2002) Fracture toughness of ceramics using the SEVNB method: from a preliminary study to a standard test method. In: Salem JA, Jenkins MG, Quinn GD (eds) Fracture resistance testing of monolithic and composite brittle materials, ASTM STP 1409, vol 1409. American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, pp 93–106
Kübler J (1999) Fracture toughness of ceramics using the SENVB method: round robin. VAMAS report no. 37
EN 14425-5 (2005) Fine ceramics (advanced ceramics, advanced technical ceramics)—determination of fracture toughness of monolithic ceramics at room temperature by the single-edge vee-notched beam (SEVNB) method
ISO 23146 (2005) Fine ceramics (advanced ceramics, advanced technical ceramics)—test methods for fracture toughness of monolithic ceramics—single-edge V-notch beam (SEVNB) method (similar to CEN EN 14425-5)
Petrovic JJ, Jacobson LA (1976) Controlled surface flaws in hot-pressed SiC. J Am Ceram Soc 59(1–2):34–37
Fett T, Munz D (1987) Knoop-indentations as surface flaws for subcritical crack growth measurements. Eur Appl Res Rep/Nucl Sci Technol 7:1183–1196
Lube T (2001) Indentation crack profiles in silicon nitride. J Eur Ceram Soc 21(2):211–218
Quinn GD, Salem JA (2003) Effect of lateral cracks on fracture toughness determined by the surface-crack-in-flexure-method. J Am Ceram Soc 85(4):873–880
Quinn GD, Gettings RJ, Kübler J (1994) Fracture toughness by the surface crack in flexure (SCF) method: results of the VAMAS round robin. Ceram Eng Sci Proc 15:846–855
Newman JC, Raju IS (1981) An empirical stress-intensity factor equation for the surface crack. Eng Fract Mech 15(1–2):185–192
Strobl S, Supancic P, Lube T, Danzer R (2012) Surface crack in tension or in bending—a reassessment of the Newman and Raju formula in respect to fracture toughness measurements in brittle materials. J Eur Ceram Soc 32:1491–1501. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2012.01.011
ISO 18756 (2005) Fine ceramics (advanced ceramics, advanced technical ceramics)—determination of fracture toughness of monolithic ceramics at room temperature by the surface crack in flexure (SCF) method (ISO 18756, 2005)
Chantikul P, Anstis GR, Lawn BR, Marshall DB (1981) A critical evaluation of indentation techniques for measuring fracture toughness: II. Strength method. J Am Ceram Soc 64(9):539–543
Awaji H, Kon J-I, Okuda H (1990) The VAMAS fracture toughness test round robin on ceramics. VAMAS technical report 9. Japan Fine Ceramics Centre, Nagoya, Japan
Evans AG, Charles EA (1976) Fracture toughness determination by indentation. J Am Ceram Soc 56(7–8):371–372
Anstis GR, Chantikul P, Lawn BR, Marshall DB (1981) A critical evaluation of indentation techniques for measuring fracture toughness: I. Direct crack measurements. J Am Ceram Soc 64(9):533–538
Ponton CB, Rawlings RD (1989) Vickers indentation fracture toughness test, part 2: application and critical evaluation of standardised indentation toughness equations. Mater Sci Technol 5(10):961–976
Palmqvist S (1962) Rißbildungsarbeit bei Vickers-Eindrücken als Maß für die Zähigkeit von Hartmetallen. Archiv für das Eisenhüttenwesen 33(9):629–634
Quinn GD, Bradt RC (2007) On the Vickers indentation fracture test. J Am Ceram Soc 90(3):673–680
Morrell R (2006) Fracture toughness testing for advanced technical ceramics: internationally agreed good practice. Adv Appl Ceram 105(2):88–98
Miyazaki H, Hyuga H, Hirao K, Ohji T (2007) Comparison of fracture resistance as measured by the indentation fracture method and fracture toughness determined by the single-edge-precracked beam technique using silicon nitride ceramics with different microstructures. J Eur Ceram Soc 27:2347–2354. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2006.09.002
Miyazaki H, Y-i Yoshizawa, Hirao K, Ohji T (2010) Indentation fracture resistance test round robin on silicon nitride ceramics. Ceram Int 36:899–907
ASTM F 2094-08 (2008) standard specification for silicon nitride bearing balls
Supancic P, Danzer R, Witschnig S, Polaczek E, Morrell R (2009) A new test to determine the tensile strength of brittle balls—the notched ball test. J Eur Ceram Soc 29:2447–2459. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2009.02.018
Lube T, Witschnig S, Supancic P, Danzer R, Schöppl O (2012) The notched ball test—charaterisation of surface defects and their influence on strength. In: Varner JR, Wightman M (eds) Fractography of glasses and ceramics VI, vol 230. Ceramic transactions. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 225–234
Strobl S, Supancic P, Lube T, Danzer R (2012) Toughness measurement on ball specimens, part I: theoretical analysis. J Eur Ceram Soc 32:1163–1173. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2011.12.003
Strobl S, Lube T, Schöppl O (2014) Toughness measurement on ball specimens. Part II: experimental procedure and measurement uncertainties. J Eur Ceram Soc 34:1881–1892. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2013.12.052
Börger A, Supancic P, Danzer R (2002) The ball on three balls test for strength testing of brittle discs—stress distribution in the disc. J Eur Ceram Soc 22(8):1425–1436. doi:10.1016/S0955-2219(01)00458-7
Börger A, Supancic P, Danzer R (2004) The ball on three balls test for strength testing of brittle discs—part II: analysis of possible errors in the strength determination. J Eur Ceram Soc 24(10–11):2917–2928. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2003.10.035
Danzer R, Supancic P, Harrer W (2009) Der 4-Kugelversuch zur Ermittlung der biaxialen Biegefestigkeit spröder Werkstoffe. In: Kriegesmann J (ed) Technische keramische Werkstoffe, 113. Ergänzungslieferung, HvB Verlag GbR, Ellerau, pp 1–48
Harrer W, Danzer R, Supancic P, Lube T (2009) Influence of the sample size on the results of B3B-tests. Key Eng Mat 409:176–184. doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.409.176
Harrer W, Danzer R, Supancic P, Lube T (2008) The ball on three balls test: strength testing of specimens of different sizes and geometries. Proc. of 10th International Conference of the European Ceramic Society, Baden-Baden
Strobl S, Rasche S, Krautgasser C, Sharova E, Lube T (2014) Fracture toughness testing of small ceramic discs and plates. J Eur Ceram Soc 34(6):1637–1642. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2013.12.021
Rasche S, Strobl S, Kuna M, Bermejo R, Lube T (2014) Determination of strength and fracture toughness of small ceramic discs using the small punch test and the ball-on-three-balls test. Procedia Mater Sci 3:961–966. doi:10.1016/j.mspro.2014.06.156
CEN/TS 14425-1 (2003) Advanced technical ceramics—test methods for determination of fracture toughness of monolithic ceramics—part 1: guide to test method selection
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Danzer, R., Lube, T., Rasche, S. (2016). On the Development of Experimental Methods for the Determination of Fracture Mechanical Parameters of Ceramics. In: Hütter, G., Zybell, L. (eds) Recent Trends in Fracture and Damage Mechanics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21467-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21467-2_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21466-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21467-2
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)