A statistical approach to strength evaluation incorporating porosity effect for porous ceramics

ABSTRACT It has not been clear whether the conventional effective volume proposed for dense brittle materials can be applied satisfactorily to the strength evaluation of porous ceramics. In the present study, a modified effective volume was proposed by incorporating the porosity effect in the statistical evaluation of strength properties of porous ceramics. The modified effective volume was derived as the conventional effective volume multiplied by a function of porosity p. In this work, a power function of (1 + p)^a was adopted as the simplest porosity function. To clarify the applicability of the modified effective volume, bending tests were conducted using smooth and notched specimens of 3 wt% MgO partially stabilised zirconia with six different porosities. The porosity dependence appeared in the relation between the conventional effective volume and the mean strength of various zirconia ceramics with different porosities. The exponent a of the porosity function was determined from experimental data obtained by using identically shaped specimens with distinct porosities, and the modified effective volume was calculated for several types of specimens used in the experiments. It was revealed that the mean strength was almost uniquely correlated with the modified effective volume independent of porosity. The experimental correlation verified the applicability of the modified effective volume to strength evaluation of porous ceramics.