Mechanical Properties of

Ceramics
 In ceramics, brittle fracture is controlled by
the extension of small flaws which are
BRITTLE dispersed in a material or component's
surface, and which behave like cracks.
FRACTUR Brittle fracture takes places without any
appreciable deformation and by any crack
E OF propagation
CERAMIC
At room temperature a ceramic whether it is
S crystalline or non-crystalline always fracture
before any plastic deformation
• The brittle fracture process
consist of the formation and
propagation of cracks
through the cross section of
material in direction
perpendicular to the
applied load.
• Crack growth of a crystalline
ceramics can be trans-
granular or intergranular
Static Fatigue or • This type of fracture is
Delayed Fracture especially sensitive to
environmental conditions,
specially when moisture is
present in the atmosphere.
Brittle fracture of ceramics
Fractography
of Ceramics
•For brittle ceramic materials,
schematic representations of
crack origins and configurations
that result from (a) impact
(point contact) loading, (b)
bending, (c) torsional loading,
and (d) internal pressure.
Fractography of Ceramics
Fractography of Ceramics
 • The stress-strain behavior of
ceramic materials is greatly influenced
Stress Strain by microstructural features ranging from
the presence of point defects in single
Behavior crystals to the size and location of pores
and nature of grain boundaries in poly
crystals.
Stress Strain • The stress strain behavior of brittle ceramics
is not usually ascertained by tensile test.
Behavior
1. First, it is difficult to prepare and test
specimens having the required geometry.
2. Second, it is difficult to grip brittle
materials without fracturing them.
3. Third, ceramics fail after only about 0.1%
strain, which necessitates that tensile
specimens be perfectly aligned to avoid
the presence of bending stresses, which
are not easily calculated.
Flexural
Strength
• Flexural Strength

• The stress at fracture using

this flexure test is known as
the flexural strength.

• Flexure test :which a rod

specimen having either a
circular or rectangular cross
section is bent until fracture
using a three- or four-point
loading technique
Stress Strain Curve for two brittle materials
 • The elastic stress–strain behavior
for ceramic materials using these
flexure tests is similar to the tensile
test results for metals: a linear
Elastic relationship exists between stress
Behavior and strain.
Influence of Porosity
• Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void ("empty
spaces") in a material.
Influence of Porosity
Hardness
• The hardness of ceramic materials is a property which is
of high significance as it relates to the ability of the material
to withstand penetration of the surface.
 High temperature Creep Testing
machine
Creep

• Often, ceramic materials experience

creep deformation as a result of
exposure to stresses (usually
compressive) at elevated temperatures.
Thank you!