ABSTRACT
Our aim is to provide the design engineer with a basis on which to guarantee the reliability of a fully ceramic structure, or that of a part made of a brittle material within a larger structure. To this end, suitable strength and toughness data are required. In what follows, we shall explain the procedures on how these can be determined and how they are used in practice. Moreover, it is imperative to realize that these quantities vary statistically within a particular batch and how this variation can be quantified experimentally. In addition, the state of stress in the component during use needs be analyzed thoroughly, either analytically or numerically, by performing a suitable stress analysis. Summarizing, we repeat the three key ingredients for a successful design with brittle matter as follows:
Suitable material data acquisition Stress analysis Statistical approach to strength variation and lifetime prediction.
