Contact and Bending Strength Tests of Ceramics: What is the Difference?

The paper deals with the determination of the characteristic strength and the Weibull modulus m of Si3N4 and SiC ceramic materials using conventional four-point bending and unconventional contact tests between opposite rollers and opposite spheres. Ceramographic and fractographic methods were used for the characterization of strength degrading defects represented by processing flaws and by cracks of different types arising during the loading. The processing flaws influenced the Weibull parameters mainly in the bending mode, and the strength and its scatter in contact modes was influenced by lateral, median and contact end cracks, originated during the contact test using rollers, and by cone cracks originated during the contact test using spheres.