Strength Prediction of Ceramic Components Under Complex Stress States

Abstract

The capability to perform accurate fast-fracture strength predictions for ceramic components under complex stress states must be available in order to transition the use of advanced, high-strength ceramic materials from the laboratory to the high-strength/high-temperature applications they are intended for. Multiaxial strength prediction theories have provided the prediction capabilities, but only limited testing of these theories under complex states of stress and stress gradient conditions has been performed previously. Presented here are comprehensive test results and strength predictions for ceramic components subjected to complex states of stress and stress gradient conditions. The results show excellent agreement of the predictions from the multiaxial theories with test results for volumetrically distributed flaws. An important finding of this work is the problem that arises in performing component surface strength predictions from database-type specimens. Database-type specimens and component surface properties are not necessary correlated, and in many cases it may be completely inaccurate to use database-type specimen surface properties for component surface strength predictions.