Assigment 01

MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR OF MATERIALS

SUBMITTED TO:
Dr.ABDUS SALAM
SUBMITTED BY:
METALLURGY AND USMAN LIAQAT
MATERIAL ENGINEERING, 17MME-S1-313

PUNJAB UNIVERSITY
 1. Brittle fracture in ceramics materials

Introduction
Ceramic materials have a large fraction of ionic or covalent bonds. This
results in some special behaviour and consequently some special problems with
their reliable use in engineering. In the temperature range of technical interest
dislocations are relatively immobile and dislocation induced plasticity is almost
completely absent in ceramics [1-3]. This is the basis for their high hardness and
inherent brittleness. Typical values for the fracture toughness of ceramics are in
the range from 1 to 10 MPa·m1/2 and the total fracture strain is commonly less
than a few parts per thousand [1].
Fracture of ceramic components depends on many factors, e.g. the chemistry and
microstructure of the material and the resulting materials properties (e.g.
toughness, R-curve behaviour, etc.). The macroscopic appearance of fracture is,
however, primarily influenced by the type of loading of the component and the
resulting stress field.

Brittle fracture
In ceramics, brittle fracture is controlled by the extension of small flaws
which are dispersed in a material or component's surface and which behave like
cracks. Flaws can arise from the production process, but also from handling and
service. Examples for critical flaws were shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
A brittle fracture in a metal is a result of crack propagation across crystallographic
planes and is frequently associated with little plastic deformation. The propagation
of a cleavage crack, as it is known, requires much less energy than does a ductile
crack and can occur at an applied stress much lower than that at which failure would
normally be expected. In engineering materials such a fracture usually starts from a
notch such as a fatigue crack or a welding crack or lack of sidewall fusion; in other
words, a high localised stress concentration. A material property which measures the
propensity to brittle fracture is the stress intensity at which a brittle fracture occurs.
Brittle fracture describes the failure of a material that involves little or no plastic
deformation at the crack tip. There is always some plastic deformation around the
crack tip in many materials, but, in more extreme cases of brittle fracture, the size of
the plastic zone is extremely small and has no significant influence on the fracture
process. In the absence of the plastic zone, the force needed to grow the crack
decreases with its length. In other words, once the critical load for brittle crack
growth is reached, the crack grows quickly through the material.

2
(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 1: Fracture surface of a silicon nitride valve fractured in a rupture test: a) Macroscopic view: the
crack path is perpendicular to the loading direction, b) Fracture mirror, mist and hackle can be
recognised on the fracture surface, c) The fracture origin (agglomerate related to a pore) can be found
in the centre of the mirror.

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 2: Fracture origins in a) a silicon nitride bending test specimen, b) a barium titanate (PTC
ceramic) bending test specimen and c) in an alumina bending test specimen. The origins are an
agglomeration of coarse, elongated grains, a large pore due to a hollow agglomerate and a crescent-
shaped pore surrounding a hard agglomerate respectively. The Griffith crack size is indicated by white
lines.
 2. Stress-strain behaviour of ceramics
As we discussed before that the ceramic materials do not have the ability to absorb energy
and the stress applied on the ceramic material results in its breakage. The graph plotted
between and stress and strain give a straight line with no plastic deformation.

The mechanism of deformation of ceramics is quite simple. As the stress is applied in the
ceramic material, strain is produced in it. But as ceramic being a brittle material can not
absorb the energy produced in the body under the action of applied stress a crack is initiated.
This crack is the point where fracture starts. Fracture starts at any defected point in ceramic it
can be as small as a scratch. As the stress in applied continuously and crack initiates, with no
elastic deformation the crack propagates and fracture occurs in the material.
 3. Mechanical properties of polymer
Following are mechanical properties of polymers

 Polymeric materials have high tensile strengths which means that they can be
stretched with failure or fracture in their structure.
 They can be plastically deformed and can be elongated. Usually we talk about percent
elongation, which is just the length the polymer sample is after it is stretched (L),
divided by the original length of the sample (L0), and then multiplied by 100

 Property of a material to absorb energy before fracture is called toughness. Polymers

are tough materials because they can absorb large amount of energy before fracture.
 They are light in weight
 Ceramic materials are insulators they do not allow heat and electric energy to pass
through them.
 They have brittle fracture means they show large plastic deformation. Elastic
deformation is also a property of polymers.
 As compared to the metals and ceramics the polymeric materials are soft and ductile.

4. Thermomechanical properties of polymers

 Heat Capacity of Polymersis usually measured in Joules per Kelvin and kilogram
(or mole). The heat capacity increases with increasing temperature; therefore, a
liquid or rubbery polymer can hold more energy than a solid polymer. All
materials show this increase in heat capacity with temperature.
 The glass transition is a different kind of transition which happens to
amorphous polymers; that is, polymers whose chains are not arranged in ordered
crystals, but are just strewn around in any old fashion, even though they are in the
solid state. But even crystalline polymers will have some amorphous portions.
  Polymers show large thermal expansions on heatingThe Coefficient of Linear
Thermal Expansion is a material property which characterizes the ability of a
plastic to expand under the effect of temperature elevation.
 The thermal conductivity of bulk polymers is usually very low, which is due to the
complex morphology of polymer chains. The thermal conductivity of
a polymer depends greatly on its morphology.
Reference:
[1] D. Munz, T. Fett, Ceramics, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1999.
[2] R. W. Davidge, Mechanical Behaviour of Ceramics, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 1979.