Tensile strength measurements of ceramic materials at high rates of strain

Ceramic materials are usually assumed linear elastic up to failure and the failure criterion is accustomed to be a limit condition related to the tensile strength. Due to the difficulties associated with the uniaxial tensile test, some different alternatives have been posed such as Brazilian tests and spalling test of long bars. In this work, a comparative study of these methods has been broached. Specimens of alumina and silicon carbide have been tested at different strain rates, showing the influence of strain rate in the tensile strength values. The analysis provides results of the stress and strain state in the specimen. (orig.)