MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES
OF CERAMIC

Concept of . Stress-Strain
Behavior
Stress the resistance of a material when subjected to
external loading.
Stress F/A
Different types of forces or stresses that are encountered in
dealing with mechanical properties of materials
can be tensile, compressive, shear or torsional.
stronger the material the greater the load it can withstand.
Strain the change of length per unit length
Stress as a cause; strain as the effect

Mechanical Properties
Mechanical behavior are generally
dened as the modes of deformation
and modes of failure
The degree to which a structure
deforms or strains depends on the
magnitude of an imposed stress
Mode of deformation elastic and
plastic deformation
Mode of failure ductile and brittle

Elastic deformation
Deformation in which stress and
strain are proportional is called
elastic deformation
a plot of stress (ordinate) versus
strain (abscissa) results in a
linear relationship;
The slope of this linear
relationship E is the modulus
of elasticity, or Youngs modulus.
This modulus may be thought of
as stiffness, or a materials
resistance to elastic
deformation.
The greater the modulus, the
stiffer the material, or the

Elastic deformation
nonpermanent
when the applied load is released, the
piece returns to its original shape.
Application of the load corresponds to
moving from the origin up and along the
straight line. Upon release of the load, the
line is traversed in the opposite direction,
back to the origin
On an atomic scale, macroscopic elastic
strain is manifested as small changes in
the interatomic spacing and the
stretching of interatomic bonds.
As a consequence, the magnitude of the
modulus of elasticity is a measure of the
resistance to separation of adjacent
atoms, that is, the interatomic bonding
forces

Elastic Deformation
1. Initial

2. Small load

3. Unload

bonds
stretch
return to
initial

Elastic means reversible.

Linearelastic

Non-Linearelastic

some materials (e.g., gray cast

iron, concrete, and many
polymers) for show
Non linear elastic portion of the
stressstrain curve
6

 Values of the modulus of elasticity for ceramic materials are

about the same as for metals; for polymers they are lower
These differences are a direct consequence of the different
types of atomic bonding in the three materials types.
Furthermore, with increasing temperature, the modulus of
elasticity diminishes

Plastic deformation
For some materials, elastic
deformation persists only to
certain value of strains
As the material is deformed
beyond this point, the stress
is no longer proportional to
strain and permanent,
nonrecoverable, or plastic
deformation occurs

Plastic deformation
From an atomic perspective, plastic deformation corresponds to
the breaking of bonds with original atom neighbors and then
reforming bonds with new neighbors
large numbers of atoms or molecules move relative to one
Plastic deformation corresponds to the motion of large numbers of
dislocations.
net movement of large numbers of atoms in response to an
applied stress
During this process, interatomic bonds must be ruptured and then
reformed.
After removal of the stress, the large number of atoms that have
relocated, do not return to original position.

Plastic Deformation
1. Initial

2. Small load

3. Unload

bonds
stretch
& planes
shear

planes
still
sheared

elastic + plastic

plastic

F
F
Plastic means permanent.

linear
elastic

linear
elastic

plastic

10

 The process by which plastic deformation is produced by

dislocation motion is termed slip;
Macroscopic plastic deformation simply corresponds to permanent
deformation that results from the movement of dislocations, or
slip, in response to an applied shear stress
When the shear stress is applied plane A is forced to the right; this
in turn pushes the top halves of planes B, C, D, and so on, in the
same direction (a); Interatomic bonds of plane B are severed
along the shear plane, and the upper half of plane B becomes the
extra halfplane as plane A links up with the bottom half of plane B
(Figure b). This process is subsequently repeated for the other
planes

Elasticity of ceramic
From ambient temperature
(or below) and up to
relatively high temperatures
(T < 1,000C), ceramics are
elastic materials par
excellence
their behavior under load is
most often linear with a
nearly full reversibility of
the deformation on removal
of the load
the fracture takes place
during elastic loading (no
plasticity), for a deformation
less than 1%.

Failure
Ceramic materials are somewhat limited in applicability by their
mechanical properties, which in many respects are inferior to those
of metals.
Simple fracture is the separation of a body into two or more pieces
in response to an imposed stress that is static (i.e., constant or
slowly changing with time) and at temperatures that are low
relative to the melting temperature of the material.
The applied stress may be tensile, compressive, shear, or torsional;
Based on the ability of a material to experience plastic deformation,
two fracture modes : ductile and brittle.

Ductile
It is a measure of the degree of plastic deformation that has
been sustained at fracture
exhibit substantial plastic deformation with high energy
absorption before fracture
the process proceeds relatively slowly as the crack length is
extended. Such a crack is often said to be stable.
That is, it resists any further extension unless there is an
increase in the applied stress.

 Ductile materials will withstand large strains before the

specimen ruptures; brittle materials fracture at much
lower strains. The yielding region for ductile materials
often takes up the majority of the stress-strain curve,
whereas for brittle materials it is nearly nonexistent
Ductile materials exhibit large strains and yielding
before they fail
The energy absorbed (per unit volume) in the tensile
test is simply the area under the stress strain curve

 The fracture process normally

occurs in several stages :
a) necking begins
b) small cavities, or microvoids,
form in the interior of the cross
section,
c) Next, as deformation continues,
these microvoids enlarge, come
together, and coalesce to form a
elliptical crack, which has its long
d) Finally, fracture ensues by the
rapid propagation of a crack
around the outer perimeter of the
neck (), by shear deformation at
an angle of about with the tensile
axisthis is the angle at which
the shear stress is a maximum

Brittle
a material that experiences very little or no
plastic deformation with low energy absorption
upon fracture
Such cracks may be said to be unstable, and
crack propagation, once started, will continue
spontaneously without an increase in
magnitude of the applied stress
Brittle fracture takes place without any
appreciable deformation, and the cracks may
spread extremely rapid crack propagation.
The direction of crack motion is very nearly
perpendicular to the direction of the applied
tensile stress and yields a relatively flat
fracture surface
A brittle material should not be considered as
lacking in strength. It only shows the lack of
plasticity

Brittle fracture of ceramics

At room temperature, both crystalline and

noncrystalline ceramics almost always
fracture before any plastic deformation can
occur in response to an applied tensile load
as soon as the stress locally reaches the
critical threshold
The brittle fracture process consists of the
formation and propagation of cracks through
the cross section of material in a direction
perpendicular to the applied load.
Crack growth in crystalline ceramics may be
either transgranular (i.e., through the
grains) or intergranular (i.e., along grain
boundaries);
for transgranular fracturecracks propagate
along specic crystallographic (or cleavage)
planes, planes of high atomic density.

 For most brittle crystalline materials, crack propagation

corresponds to the successive and repeated breaking of
atomic bonds along specic crystallographic planes such a
process is termed cleavage.
These stress raisers may be minute surface or interior cracks
(microcracks), internal pores, and grain corners, which are
virtually impossible to eliminate or control.
For example, even moisture and contaminants in the
atmosphere can introduce surface cracks in freshly drawn
glass bers; these cracks affect the strength.
A stress concentration at a flaw tip can cause a crack to
form, which may propagate until the eventual failure
Brittle fracture therefore involves two stages:
production of a crack (or of a flaw: porosity, inclusion, etc.);
propagation of a crack (emanating from the most serious
flaw existing).

POROSITY
the precursor material is in the
form of a powder.
Subsequent to compaction or
forming of these powder particles
into the desired shape, pores or
void spaces will exist between the
powder particles.
During the ensuing heat
treatment, much of this porosity
will be eliminated; however, it is
often the case that this pore
elimination
process is incomplete and some
residual porosity will remain

HARDNESS
how much energy it takes to deform
(stretch, compress, bend, etc.) a
material.
If the material takes a lot of energy to
change only a little, it is said to be hard.
Conversely, if only a little amount of
energy is needed to make a lot of shape
change, then the material is soft.
One benecial mechanical property of
ceramics is their hardness, which is
often utilized when an abrasive or
grinding action is required; in fact, the
hardest known materials are ceramics
High degree of hardness means:
--resistance to plastic deformation or
cracking in compression.
--better wear properties

 Quantitative hardness techniques have been developed where a

small indenter is forced into the surface of a material.
The depth or size of the indentation is measured, and corresponds
to a hardness number.
So the geometry of the indenter tip and the crystal orientation
(and therefore the microstructure) will affect the hardness
The softer the material, the larger and deeper the indentation
(and lower hardness number).

TOUGHNESS
the ability of a material to absorb energy up to fracture
material's resistance to brittle fracture when a crack is
present
If the material takes a lot of energy (it may change shape)
before breaking, then it is a tough material. If only a little
energy is needed to break the material it is weak or brittle
For a material to be tough, it must display both strength
and ductility, should withstand both high stresses and high
strain
often, ductile materials are tougher than brittle ones
ceramics have poor toughness

c07f13

Toughness
Lower toughness: ceramics
Higher toughness:
metals

25

creep
Materials are often placed in service at elevated temperatures and
exposed to static mechanical stresses (e.g., turbine rotors in jet
engines and steam generators that experience centrifugal stresses).
Deformation under such circumstances is termed creep
creep the evolution undergone by the geometry of a body over a
length of time, under the effect of stresses
subjected to a constant load or stress, creep is normally an
undesirable phenomenon and is often the limiting factor in the
lifetime of a part.
Often ceramic materials experience creep deformation as a result of
exposure to stresses (usually compressive) at elevated temperatures
The speed of deformation or creep rate increases quickly when the
temperature approaches the softening temperature of the material
(case of glass), or the least
Ceramics are therefore not very deformable until a relatively high
temperature is reached.