Engineering

Ceramics

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

Properties of Engineering Ceramics

Often good thermal and electrical
insulators
Chemically resistant to most acids,
alkalis and organic solvents
Mechanical properties
High

elastic modulus
hardness
compressive strength
melting point
wear resistance

Low
density
ductility
fracture toughness

Excellent Creep Resistance

Properties are derived from strong

bonding and atomic arrangement of
atoms
APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

Engineering Ceramics
Examples
ionic-covalent materials
alumina (Al2O3)
zirconia (ZrO2)
magnesia (MgO)

covalent materials

Parts manufactured
with Tetragonal
Zirconia Polycrystals

diamond
cubic boron nitride (CBN)
silicon nitride (Si3N4)
silicon carbide (SiC)

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

Example:
Potential ceramic
component applications in
a turbocharged diesel
engine

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APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

Bonding - Predominately Ionic

Compounds of metals and non-metals e.g.
NaCl, Al2O3, MgO etc.

Bonding is non-directional
Structures composed of ions
Metallic ions (cations) have positive charge
Non-metallic ions (anions) are negatively charged

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

Bonding - Predominately Covalent

Compounds of 2 non-metals
SiO2

Pure elements
diamond (C), silicon (Si) and
germanium (Ge)

Sharing of electrons gives fixed

number of directional bonds
Crystal structure is determined
by completion of bonds and
bond angles
Position and number of
neighbouring atoms are rigidly
fixed

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

High Strength of Ceramics

In metals dislocation motion is
intrinsically easy
With covalent materials
dislocation motion is difficult
due to the necessity to break and
reform the strong bonds

With ionic materials,

the difficulty in dislocation
motion is related to the
distribution of charges in the
crystal structure
APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

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Fracture Strength

Tension
controlled by largest flaw

TS

TS

KIC is typically 1 5 MPam

for engineering ceramics

K Ic
c =
a

This crack
propagates
unstably
Tension

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

TS
T

T
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Fracture Strength
C

Compression
compressive strength controlled
by inclined cracks (i.e. at 45)
shear stresses on crack plane
leads to generation of tensile
stresses
cracks grow parallel to loading
These
cracks
propagate
stably

T
C
C

Compression

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

Resolved
shear
stress

Modulus of Rupture - MOR

Modulus of Rupture (MOR)

determined from bend tests (3point or 4-point)
ceramics or glasses have MOR
values approximately 1.7 times
tensile values
this occurs due to the statistical
distribution of flaws

In MOR tests using 3 pt.

bending, maximum tensile stress
occurs over a very small volume
of the sample
there is low probability that the
largest flaw in the material
would be located at this position

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

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Thermal Shock Stress

Consider a constrained cylindrical rod subject to a change in temperature
from T0 to Tf (the bar is isothermal at each temperature)

Mechanical Strain

Define " = (' ) ) Thermal Strain

Define

+ =

For fully constrained boundary condition

T0

" + + =0
Substituting and rearranging
Tf

= (' -) )

Increase in T yields stress(compression); decrease

yields + stress (tension)
APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

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Thermal Shock
Consider a cylindrical rod subject to a rapid change in temperature (quench)

Thermal stress
:"
proportion to :; , E,

=0

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

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Strength -
Expansion
This chart
helps us to
select
materials to
resist a
sudden
change in
temperature
need to
maximize

1000
C
100C

10C
Engineering
Ceramics

f
E

Porous Ceramics

f
Tthermal shock
E
APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

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Homework Problems
Callister
13.10, 13.17, 13.19

APSC278 by Warren Poole and Anoush Poursartip

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