J Am Cerom SOC 74 [8]1981-86 (1991)
Crack Stability and LCurves Due to Macroscopic Residual
Compressive Stress Profiles
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University,
Stabilization of the fracture process and resistance to
strength degradation have been observed for materials with
increasing T-curves. In this study, the possibility of using
residual compressive stresses to induce crack stabilization
is examined theoretically. Nonmonotonic forms for the
residual compressive stress profiles are assumed. The stress
intensity factors for linear through-the-thickness cracks
subjected to these profiles are derived. The stress intensity
factors are then used to construct the T-curves for the stress
profiles considered. It is demonstrated that the presence of
these T-curves leads to crack stability under the action of
applied tensile stresses, and to strength insensitivity to the
initial flaw size. The effects of additional localized stress
fields (similar to those produced by indentation) on crack
growth in these materials are also considered. In this case,
the strength is found to be relatively insensitive to the mag-
nitude of the localized loading. It is therefore concluded that
residual stresses can be used to improve mechanical reli-
ability in ways which are usually associated with micro-
structural toughening mechanisms. [Key words: cracks,
stabilization, compression, stress, R curve.]
I. Introduction
T HE resistance of a brittle material to fracture is usually
characterized by a single, constant parameter, its tough-
ness TO. However, several materials exhibit a feature wherein
the resistance to fracture depends on the crack size, c. This
dependence, termed T (or R)-curve behavior, can arise be-
cause of a variety of microstructural interactions ahead, at, or
behind the crack tip. In ceramic materials, the observed
T-curves are generally attributed to either process- or bridging-
zone effects.’ An example of the process-zone effect is
partially stabilized Zr02 (transformation zone behind the
crack tip causes toughening),2 whereas large-grained A1203
materials3 provide an instance of toughening by a bridging
zone. The T-curves obtained as a result of these mechanisms
either increase monotonically or increase to a steady-state
value as a function of c. An important feature of these rising
T-curves is that the fracture process acquires a significant de-
gree of stability. The stability arises because for cracks to
propagate under an applied stress, the rate of change (with
respect to c) of the forces driving the cracks must become
greater than the rate of change of those opposing its advance.
Resistance to strength degradation, where the strength is
found to be relatively insensitive to the contact load in an
A. G. Evans-contributing editor
Manuscript No. 197184. Received November 1, 1990; approved May 7,
1991.
Supported by the Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-
86ER45252.
*Member, American Ceramic Society.
1981
Rajan Tandon* and David J. Green*
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
indentation test$5 has also been observed for these materials.
A consequence of the stabilization of the fracture process is a
reduction in the strength variability of these materials as ob-
served by Kendall et d 6The trends in strength variability
have been analyzed and the microstructural factors influenc-
ing variability have been
In a recent study, Marple’ has shown that for one series of
mullite-A1203 composites, the indentation strength, over a
wide range, was insensitive to the indentation load. Some of
the results from Ref. 9 are shown in Fig. 1. The strength for
the A1203 material (which served as a reference, To =
4MPa. m1’2)closely followed the -1/3 slope relationship pre-
dicted for monolithic materials in the absence of a rising
T-curve,” whereas the strength of the mullite-A1203 com-
posites was nearly independent of the indentation load. These
composites were fabricated by the infiltration of a S O 2 -
containing sol into partially sintered AI2O3bodies, which on
heat treatment decomposed and reacted with the A1203 to
form mullite.11”2 The increased strength and indentation
toughness values in these materials have been attributed to
the presence of residual compressive stresses. These stresses
arise because of a thermal expansion mismatch as the mullite
content decreases from the surface inward?
The results presented in Fig. 1 clearly indicate that under
suitable conditions, a residual compressive stress profile may
yield significant resistance to strength degradation. In light of
the above finding, some of the questions which need to be
addressed are the following: (a) How do residual compressive
stresses lead to the behavior shown in Fig. l ? (b) What sort of
stress profiles would be required to obtain resistance to
strength degradation and stabilization of the fracture process?
(c) What is the influence of these stress profiles on the
strength and its variability?
A clue to understanding the unusual behavior in Fig. 1 was
the residual stress profile, calculated using laminate theory,
for the mullite-A1203 composite^.^ The set of samples which
had a maximum in the residual compression away from the
surface of the sample were the only ones which exhibited a
deviation from the -1/3 slope. In the present work, the aim is
to examine this strength behavior using a fracture mechanics
approach which utilizes residual compressive stress profiles
having a compressive maximum (stress minimum) away from
the sample surface. The stress intensity factors for such cases
are obtained and used to construct the T-curves for these ma-
terials. To study the strength behavior, a uniform applied ten-
sile field is imposed on these materials. It is found that some
of the assumed compressive residual stress profiles lead to
stabilization of the fracture process. Next the strength behav-
ior of the system in the presence of localized stress fields
(which are similar to those found in indentation situations) is
considered. It is shown that the strength of the residually
stressed materials can be insensitive to the magnitude of the
localized field, i.e., behavior similar to that depicted in Fig. 1
for the mullite-A1203 composite. The stabilization of the
fracture process by suitably engineered macroscopic residual
stresses represents a new and alternative approach to improv-
ing the reliability of brittle materials.
1982 Journal of the American Ceramic Society - Tandon and Green Vol. 74, No. 8

A1203- rnullite

slope I -113
L." , I I I
0.8 1.2 1.6 2.0
log (Indentation load, N)

Fig. 1. Indentation strength of A1203 and mullite-Al~O3 com-

posites as a function of the indentation load. The strength of A1203
samples has a -1/3 slope relationship with the load whereas the
strength of the composites does not decrease significantly over the
load range.

11. Analysis
The analytical approach used in this study is outlined in
the following section. First, we describe the characteristics of
the residual stress profiles chosen. Next, the relevant stress
intensity factors for these profiles are derived. These stress
intensity factors, and those due to additional fields acting on
the cracks, are then used in a fracture mechanics analysis to
determine the failure conditions for the systems under con-
sideration. Finally, the scheme to characterize the strength of
the residually stressed materials is described.
(1) Residual Stress Profiles
Consider the residual stress profile (in the x-y' coordinate Fig. 2. (a) Arrangement used to obain the assumed residual stress
system) shown in Fig. 2(a) which is symmetrical about the y' profile. usis the magnitude of the maximum stress. x-y' and x-y
are the original and transformed coordinate systems. (b) Sche-
axis. The magnitude of the maximum stress is us(at x = 0) matic of the sample being subjected to the residual stress profile in
and the profile extends to a distance rn in either direction. (a). They-z lane is the sample surface. The location of the maxi-
This stress profile can be expressed as mum stress from the surface of the sample is defined by the dis-
tance n , and n + m is the depth of the stressed layer. A straight
through-the-thickness crack is also shown.

Now if the origin is shifted t o x = - n (n Irn), for the trans-

stress profile of Eq. (2). The strength-controlling flaws in the
formed axesx-y, we obtain the stress distribution in Eq. (1)as
specimens are assumed to be straight through-the-thickness
surface cracks. The stress intensity factor ( K s ) due to the
1 - - + -- - residual stress profile of Eq. (2) is given by15
inz rn2 rn2
In this coordinate system, the y-z plane defines the free sur-
face of the sample. Figure 2(b) is a schematic of the sample (3)
+
with the stress profile. It is evident that rn n is the extent
of the residual stress and n fixes the location of the maximum where M is a constant (assumed =1.12), g(x) is the Green's
stress away from the sample surface. (If u,is negative, n fixes function for the crack geometry considered, i.e.,
the location of the minimum in stress.) The ratio nlrn can be
varied to allow an examination of the effect of moving the 2c
peak stress relative to x = 0. It must be mentioned that the g(x) = (c2 - x2)1/2 (4)
stress profile chosen has no physical significance per se, and
is used only as a simple expression which allows us to investi- and A, the upper limit of the integral, depends on the crack
gate the above-mentioned effects.+ For analytical simplicity, a length as
semi-infinite sample size is assumed such that compensating
stresses required t o ensure force balance across the cross sec- A =c (forc 5 rn + n)
tion can be taken to be negligible. It also allows the relaxation
of residual stresses due to the presence of the crack to be = rn +n (forc 2 rn + n) (5)
ignored. Also shown in Fig. 2(b) is the two-dimensional Substituting Eq. (2) into Eq. (3) and performing the integra-
(through-the-thickness) crack geometry (length c) considered tion, the stress intensity factor for c Irn + n is obtained as
in this work (see Section II(2)).
(2) Stress Intensity Factors
Since compensating stresses need not be considered, the
stress intensity factors can be evaluated directly from the
K s = ~ M C , ( ; ) ' ~ ([ 1 - =c21
2): + -p 2
2nc -

and for c 2 rn + n we have

'Stress profiles with the maxima away from the surface can be generated
in glasses (Ref. 13) and laminated ceramics (Ref. 14).
K s = 2Mu,( (1 - 5) +
ZI --j- 1 2
2nc
rn
- -I
rn2
c2 1 (7)
August 1991 Crack Stability and T-Curves Due to Macroscopic Residual Compressive Stress Profiles 1983

where For failure to occur, both the equilibrium and instability

criteria have to be satisfied. Using Eq. (lo), we obtain for
m+n
= sin-’ ( 7) crack instability

+ ‘Pusc1/2(A1+ 2Azc) 2 0 (12)

1 1 m + n Multiplying both sides of Eq. (12) by 2c, and using Eq. (11)to
2 - -(-)(I
1 3 = -z1 2 c - ZZ) introduce the equilibrium criterion, we obtain

It can be verified that at c = m + n , Eqs. (6) and (7) yield
identical results.
(3) Fracture Mechanics
Let the material under the residual stress profiles described
previously be subjected to a uniform tensile stress. The ten-
sile loading exerts a destabilizing influence on the system in
that it promotes crack advance and its influence increases
with crack length. The stress intensity factor describing the
applied tensile loading, KA, is16
KA = MUA(TTTC)~/’ (8)
where uAis the applied stress.
In the analysis to follow, the externally applied forces on
the sample are treated separately from those due to its
microstructure. For simplicity, we will consider only external
forces which promote crack advance. The microstructural
forces may either promote or retard crack advance. With
these provisos, the conditions for crack equilibrium and in-
stability, respectively, are
(9)
To + 2’Pcsc3”(A1 + 2A2c) 2 0
This condition is equivalent to, and can be defined by, a
parameter p (c) where
For cases where the equilibrium criteria is satisfied before the
inequality in Eq. (13) is attained, stability in crack extension
will be obtained. In such cases, the value of c (=c*) such that
pl(c*) = 0 defines the positions where crack extension
switches from stability to instability or vice versa. (The results
(Section 111) show that pl(c) can have two roots in the region
of interest (c 5 m + n). The smaller of these, cl*, corre-
sponds to an unstable-to-stable transition whereas the larger,
c2*, is the reverse transition.) The stability (or otherwise) of
the system is dictated by the value of pl(c), with values
greater than zero leading to unstable crack extension.
Next let us consider the case when the cracks in this
material are subjected to an additional (internal) localized ap-
plied field. Following Cook and Clarke,’ we model this com-
ponent of the crack driving force by the stress intensity factor,
KI (which is in a form similar to that arising from the elastic/
plastic deformation field of a sharp particle contact), as

where x is a numerical constant dependent on the contact and

where KExIand KMic are the stress intensity factors due to the
external and microstructural forces, respectively. Note that
the intrinsic fracture toughness of the material, TO,manifests
itself as a KMicterm. Moreover, we will include the residual
stress term, K,, in KMic such that crack stability is considered
only with respect to the external forces.
We will assume that the crack faces are completely sepa-
rated at the failure condition, such that crack closure effects
can be neglected, and that crack extension does not change
the stress state in the sample. The primary emphasis of this
+ strength behavior as a function of the magnitude of the line
anaylsis will be for cases where c Im n. When the re-
sidual stress is the only internal force acting on the crack,
Eq. (9) (with forces retarding crack advance being taken as
positive) becomes
KA = To - Ks
which on appropriate substitutions (Eqs. (6) and (8))yields for
c l m + n
‘PUAC”~ = + Alc
To - ‘PUSC’/~[AO + A~c’]
where
crack geometry, P is the applied load, and r is a numerical
constant characterizing the geometry of the applied loading.
For example, r = 1 and x = 2.6/r1I2 are appropriate values
for the linear crack considered in Section II(2), being sub-
jected to a force per unit length of magnitude P at x = 0 in
Fig. 2,16 and r = 3 and x = 0.056 are appropriate for contact
induced (contact load P)penny cracks.” As has been pointed
out in Ref. 7, any localized loading of this form will act to
stabilize the system. In our analysis, we will incorporate this
loading in a general form, and will numerically examine the
load, P, on through-the-thickness cracks; i.e., the case for
r = 1 will be considered. For this case, Eq. (9) becomes
KA = To - KR - KI
and after appropriate substitutions (Eqs. (6), (8), (14)), for
c 5 m + n, we have
(11) On applying the equilibrium and instability criteria, we ob-
tain a relationship similar to Eq. (13) which is expressed by a
function p2(c) as

A. = 1 - *):(
4n 4’PusA
A1 = ? + LC 5 / 2 2 0 (16)
mn TO
1 At c = c” , the value of p2(c) = 0. Similar to the analysis for
A2 -
2m2 cracks without the localized field, for growing cracks, the po-
sitions where crack extension changes from stability to insta-
bility or vice versa are given by p 2 ( c ) = 0. (In general
1984 Journal of the American Ceramic Society - Tandon a n d Green
Eq. (16) also has two roots, c," and c2" (cIA < c 2 " ) in the
region of intercst (c Im + n). Again, c," corresponds to an
unstable-to-stable transition whereas c2" leads to instability.)
It can easily be verified that when P = 0, Eq. (16) reduces to
Eq. (13).
(4) Strength Considerations
In the absence of the localized field, if the initial crack
length, c,,, in the material is >c2*, there will b e n o stable
growth under an applied tensile stress. However if cu < c2*,
the crack can grow stably and fail at c2*. In the presence of
the localized field, the initial crack will always undergo stable
growth on the application of an applied tensile field, and fail
at c2". In all the situations considered, the strength of the
material can be casily calculated using the appropriate stress
intensity supcrpositions (Eqs. (11) or (15)) and t h e crack
length at failure (co, c2*, or cz"). T h e strength (af)can be
written (from Eq. (15)) as
which in a normalized form becomes
Uf.N = the T-curve behavior is operative over the entire sample. An-
TI
- @ , ( A "+ A l e + A 2 C 2 )
+ (r+1)/2
- @('-)
where
01 =
%,(m + n)"*
Tr
with the value of c being either co, c2*,or c2"
111. Results and Discussion
The assumed residual stress profiles (Eq. (2)) are plotted in
Fig. 3, with a ( x , y ) normalized by the magnitude of the maxi-
mum stress as a function of the normalized depth, x / ( m + n).
The values of n/m used in the calculations to be discussed are
1,0.5, and 0.1. The coordinatex/(m + n ) = 0 is the specimen
surface. As mentioned previously, the sample size is taken
to be semi-infinite, and so compensating stresses (for x/
(m + n) > 1) are assumed to be negligible. From the plots, it
is clear that as the ratio n/m decreases, the location of the
peak stress moves closer to the surface of the sample.
n/m = 1
n/m = 0.5
n/m = 0.1
Normalized depth, x/(m+n)
Fig. 3. The magnitude of the stress profile, normalized by the
magnitude of the maximum stress, as a function of the normalized
depth for three values of n/m. Decreasing the value of n/m moves
the location of the peak residual stress closer to the surface.
Vol. 74, No. 8
These stress profiles were then used to evaluate the stress
intensity factors (Eqs. (6) and (7)). T h e net resistance to frac-
ture, T (right-hand side of Eq. (9), i.e., CK,,, term), of a ma-
terial containing the residual stress profile can be written as
T = To - K , (21)
In the following discussion, we will only consider residual
compressive stresses and will use thc value of the parameter
0,= -5.$ Therefore, the stress intensity factors of Eqs. (6)
and (7) will be negative, and Eq. (21) reveals that this leads to
an increase in the net resistance of the material to fracture.
Figure 4 is a plot of the term T (as T/T(J as a function of the
normalized crack length (c/(m + n)) for the three values of
n/rn (02= 0). T h e resistance of the material to fracture ini-
tially increases and then decreases with crack length. A n ex-
amination of Eq. (7) reveals that as c + 00, K , +. 0. This
means that for c %- m + n the effect of the residual stress on
the crack diminishes to zero, and the value of TITo -+ 1. This
behavior may be contrasted with other materials known to
exhibit T-curve behavior where the value of T is expected t o
saturate at a constant value.s T h e reason for this difference is
that in the residual stress case, the crack propagates toward
(for c < m + n ) and into (for c > rn + n ) a stress-free re-
gion, whereas for other cases, the mechanism responsible for
other interesting feature of the T-curves is that the maxima
lie beyond the point of maximum stress, i.e., a t x > n. This is
a consequence of the fact that the stress intensity factor is
determined by a weighted summation of stresses acting over
the entire crack surface.
For flaws not subjected to a localized field ( O x = 0), the
portion of these T-curves where the resistance increases with
c may afford crack stabilization. In order to explore this pos-
sibility, the function pl(c) (Eq. (13)) was computed over the
crack size range 0 < c/(m + n ) < 1 for the three values of
n/m. Figure 5(a) shows that for the system under investiga-
tion, the function pl(c) has two roots in the region of interest
for n/m = 1 and none for n/rn = 0.5, 0.1. As mentioned in
Section II(3), the two roots will be referred to as cI* and c?*
(c,* < c2*). In order to understand the implications of this
solution, the values of pl(c) for n/m = 1 are replotted in
Fig. 5(b). Not depicted on this figure is the crack length
c(,* (co*< cl* < c2*), at which the transition from unstable
failure to crack arrest and stability occurs. A n initial crack,
length C o ( < c o * ) ,fails without any stable growth. A crack in
region A in Fig. 5(b) (co*< co < cI*)initially propagates un-
stably, arrests, and grows stably t o c2* and fails. A crack in
region B in Fig. 5(b) (cl* < c" < c2*)will propagate stably to
*This value of 0 ,is not unreasonable. For example, the stress profiles
determined in Ref. 13 lead to 0 ,= -5.3 for ion-exchanged glass, and in
Ref. 17 to 0 ,= -5.16 for AI2OsZrO2 composites.
- I
0 1 2
c/(m+n)
Fig. 4. Value of the effective toughness T ( a s TIT,) as a function of
the normalized crack length, the T-curve, for three values of n/m.
The T-curve for n/m = 1 rises less steeply and attains its peak at a
larger value of crack length.
August 1991 Crack Stability and T-Curves Due to Macnwcopic Residual Compressive Stress Profiles 1985

function of c/(rn + n ) . Figure 6(a) is such a plot (n/m = 1,

r = 1) for values of the parameter O2 ranging from 0 to 1. The
overwhelming influence of the localized field for small crack
lengths depresses the value of &(c) below zero. This leads to
D, (CI the elimination of the region of unstable growth (region A in
Fig. 5(b)), for all except the smallest values of 02.Another
feature is the near constancy of C Z " (such that & ( c Z h ) = 0)
-----.- over a wide range of Oz values (from 0.1 to -1). This feature
manifests itself in the strength behavior of such materials to

I
-50.0 0.5
Normalized crack length, c/(m+n)
1 .o
be discussed in Fig. 6(b).
Figure 6(b) plots the normalized strength (Eq. (18)) as a
function of 02.For materials with the stabilizing residual
stress profiles, labeled 0,(n/m = l), the strength is nearly
constant over a wide range of O2 values. The strength of ma-
(4 terials containing linear cracks subjected to a localized line
force, without any residual stress (0, = 0), is also shown for
comparison. The strength of these materials falls off as l/Oz,

lo
5
1 i
i which is a result obtained from an analysis similar to that in
Ref. 10. It is clear that the compressive residual stress has
significantly enhanced the resistance of the material to
strength degradation, and that crack stabilization and strength
8, (C) insensitivity to the magnitude of the localized loading are re-
sults obtainable by manipulating residual stress profiles. This
0
behavior is similar to that shown in Fig. 1, and has also been
demonstrated in materials with T-curves due to transforma-
tion toughening4 or grain localized bridging.'
-. 0.0 0.5 1 .o
The strength behavior of these materials indicates that
crack stabilization afforded by the T-curves due to residual
Normalized crack length, c/(m+n) compressive stresses can significantly reduce strength vari-
(b) ability. For the case with the localized field, the strength is
relatively insensitive to the magnitude of the force per unit
Fig. 5. (a) Value of p l ( c ) as a function of the normalized crack
length for the three values of n/m. There are two roots for n/m = 1
( p l ( c ) curve intersects the line p l ( c ) = 0 at two oints) and none
for n/m = 0.5 and 0.1. (b) Value of p l ( c ) replottefas a function of
crack length for n/m = 1. A and C are regions of unstable behavior
(pl(c)> 0), and B is the regime of stable growth.

c z * prior to failure. For c2* < co (region C in Fig. 5(b)), there

is no stable growth prior to failure. Hence for all flaws with
co* < co < c2*, the strength is a constant given by Eq. (18)
with c = c2* and O2 = 0. This strength insensitivity to flaw
size will be extremely useful when engineering these materi-
-5
0.0
I l*d

*ad
A(A

0.5
r=l

1 .o
als for practical applications. In particular, it is desirable to Normalized crack length, c/(m+n)
have small values of cl*,and large values of c2*,such that most
(or all) of the failure-causing flaws lie in region B. For the (a)
system considered (n/rn = l), the values of cl*/(n+ rn) and
c2*/(n+ rn) were 0.136 and 0.58. For n/m = 0.5, 0.1, there is 1000 1
no root of Pl(c) in the searched region, and hence there is no
stable growth for cracks under such stress states. For the 100 -
parameters used in this study, at a value of n/m = 0.68, the 10 -
pl(c) curves are tangent to the Pl(c) = 0 line. Hence n/rn =
0.68 is the minimum condition required for stable growth. 0f.N
1-
The results presented indicate that for monotonically de-
creasing fields (n/rn = 0), there will be no stabilization of the .1 -
fracture process. It should be pointed out that only one form .01 -
of the residual stress profile (parabolic) was examined in this
work. One would suspect that crack stabilization would be .001 ! I
,001 .01 .1 1 10 100
very sensitive to the form of K , and hence to the shape of the
stress profile. The crack stability condition also depends on 0 2
the form of K A . In this work, we have assumed K A a cl". (b)
Additional crack stabilization will be favored for conditions
where the exponent of c in the applied field is less than 1/2 or Fig. 6 (a) Value of p*(c) as a function of the normalized crack
length (n/m = l), for various values of 02.The first region of in-
if the material exhibits a rising T-curve due to features other stability (region A in Fig. 5(a)) is suppressed for all but the smallest
than a residual compressive stress. values of O f ,and t h e beginning of t h e region of instability,
Next let us examine the effect of a localized line force on ( p 2 ( c ) > 0), is nearly constant over a wide range of 0 2 values.
the strength behavior of the material (Eq. (14)). The localized (b) Normalized strength as a function of 02 for materials with (el
field promotes crack advance but its effect decreases with in- (n/m = l)), and without (01 = 0), the residual compressive field.
T h e normalized strength falls off as (@I)-' for materials without
creasing crack length, and hence is a stabilizing field. For this the residual field, but is nearly constant over a wide range of 02
case, it is instructive to examine the behavior of &(c) as a values in the presence of the stabilizing compressive field.
1986 Journal of the American Ceramic Society -Tandon and Green
length, P. Hence, samples with damage-induced flaws of vari-
ous sizes, which may have been initiated by widely different
localized loading forces, will possess virtually identical
strength values. In order to exploit crack stabilization to mini-
mize variability for materials without a localized field, it must
be ensured that the crack size distribution is such that all (or
most) of the cracks lie between cg* and c2*. The crack size
distribution in a material is dependent on the processing con-
ditions and damage during subsequent use, and is a difficult
parameter to control. Hence the alternative approach is to
engineer stress profiles with large n/m values, i.e., maximum
in the stress shifted deeper in the sample. This will displace
the pl(c) curve (Fig. 5) further down with respect to the
c/(m + n ) axis, wiil move cl* closer to zero, and, more impor-
tantly, will increaes the c2* value. In effect, this process leads
to an increase in the extent of region B in Fig. 5(b) and in-
creases the probability of any given crack size distribution
falling in this region. Increasing the magnitude of the com-
pressive stress (i.e., increasing 01)will have a similar effect.
IV. Summary and Conclusions
It has been demonstrated that the presence of residual com-
pressive stress profiles, where the maximum in compression
occurs away from the surface of the material, can lead to the
generation of favorable T-curves, with attendant features of
crack stabilization under applied tensile fields and enhanced
resistance to strength degradation. Moreover, the conditions
for reducing the variability by control of the variables associ-
ated with the stress profile, e.g., the magnitude of the stress,
and the depth at which the maximum in the stress profile
occurs, have been identified. This approach can be applied to
systems which lack the necessary features for the incorpora-
tion of microstructure-based mechanisms of inducing crack
stability. Hence, upon introduction of a suitable stress profile,
such an approach could be used even for glass, in order to
improve the mechanical reliability in ways which are usually
associated with microstructural toughening mechanisms.
In materials which already possess a microstructural source
for an increasing T-curve, suitable residual stress profiles
will further enhance crack stability and flaw tolerance
characteristics.
Acknowledgments: We are pleased to acknowledge the careful ex-
erimental work by Basil Marple which brought this effect to light and stimu-
h n g discussions with Robert Cook regarding T-curves. We would also like
to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments about the manuscript.
References
IA. G. Evans, “Perspective on the Development of High-Toughness Ce-
ramics,”J. A m . Ceram. Soc., 73 [2] 187-206 (1990).
*R. M. McMeeking and A. G . Evans, “Mechanics of Transformation-
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