Weibull modulus of fracture strength of toughened ceramics subjected to small-scale contacts

The Weibull modulus of toughened ceramics was evaluated. The fracture of th e toughened ceramics was assumed to be initiated by surface cracks induced during small-scale contacts such as grinding and polishing and an exponenti al function was selected to describe the R-curve behavior. Based on a brief theoretical analysis, a numerical simulation procedure was designed to pre dict the fracture strength for toughened ceramics with different R-curve ch aracteristics. The Weibull modulus of each toughened ceramic was estimated and compared with that of the un-toughened base material. It was concluded that an increase in Weibull modulus can always result from toughening. The increase in Weibull modulus was found to be related directly to the relativ e crack tolerance, i.e., the ratio of the initial crack size to the critica l crack size. This suggests that the improvement in crack stability due to toughening is the main reason for the increased Weibull modulus. (C) 2001 K luwer Academic Publishers.