Abstract
Catastrophic failure in polycrystalline ceramics results from stressed cracks growing to critical dimensions which can span a range of size scales. As critical flaw dimensions increase in size from a scale less than characteristic micro-structure dimensions to a size which encompasses many grain diameters, the resistance to fracture increases, in certain polycrystals, by a factor of 5–10. This increase represents the difference between the fracture resistance of the polycrystal and that of its individual constituent single crystals. In this chapter, we: (1) show how relatively small variations in grain size and shape affect the fracture toughness — crack size relationship (R-curve behaviour); (2) briefly review several microstructural mechanisms suggested to be responsible for both the high fracture energy of polycrystals and the rising resistance to fracture with crack extension; (3) present the results of in-situ microscopy observations of subcritically propagating cracks which lend support to crack-interface traction as an important fracture resistance mechanism; and (4) examine the complicating influence that the traction mechanism has on prediction of time-dependent failure from flaws propagating under the influence of stress-enhanced chemical reactions.
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Freiman, S.W., Swanson, P.L. (1990). Fracture of polycrystalline ceramics. In: Deformation Processes in Minerals, Ceramics and Rocks. The Mineralogical Society Series, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6827-4_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6827-4_4
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