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Factor Analysis of Fracture‐Toughness Test Parameters for Al 2 O 3
Author(s) -
SWANSON GERALD D.,
GROSS GORDON E.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1971.tb12327.x
Subject(s) - fracture toughness , materials science , fracture (geology) , composite material , grain size , annealing (glass) , crystallite , metallurgy
The double‐cantilever‐beam technique was used to determine the effects of varying 6 factors related to specimen preparation, size, and testing conditions on the fracture toughness of polycrystalline Al 2 O 3 . Experimental design and statistical factor analysis techniques were used to investigate each factor at two levels. Direct fracture surface replication and electron microscopy provided supporting information about the fracture mode and fracture surface features for each test condition. The fracture toughness of Al 2 O 3 was higher for 30‐μm grain size than for 10‐μm grain size. Pretest annealing (900°C) and specimen width were both significant factors for 10‐μm Al 2 O 3 . The effects of variations of beam width, beam height, and test machine speed were masked by data scatter and are being studied further. The ratio of specimen width to fracture web width caused no effect in the range studied. The sensitivity of the test results to sample dimensions and surface finish is small enough that special care in cutting and measuring of samples is not required.