Grain‐Size Dependence of Fracture Energy in Ceramics: I, Experiment

Evaluation of literature data combined with new experimental measurements shows that crystal structure is a basic factor in the grain‐size dependence of the critical fracture energy of ceramics. Notch beam (NB), double cantilever beam (DCB), and work‐of‐fracture (WOF) tests of materials having a cubic crystal structure generally agree and show, at most, a limited variation of fracture energy with grain size. However, maxima of the order of 25%...