Strength evaluation of brittle ceramics with surface defects subjected to thermal shock

The thermal shock strength of a ceramic material plate with a semi-elliptical surface crack is evaluated in this paper. The thermal stress distribution at the plate without crack is expressed by a polynomial form. The calculated thermal stresses are used to obtain the thermal stress intensity factors of semi-elliptical surface cracks using the geometric functions. Variations of thermal stress intensity factor with crack depth and time are obtained. For the strength evaluation of the material, crack growth analysis is conducted. In addition, the thermal shock resistance of the ceramic material plate is evaluated by the stress-based failure criterion and the toughness-based failure criterion. The critical temperature at which crack propagation starts is obtained. Applicability of the two failure criteria in thermal shock resistance evaluation of ceramic is identified and the importance of the semi-elliptical surface defects on the thermal shock resistance behaviour of ceramic materials is justified.