Cyclic Fatigue in Ceramics (Current Japanese Materials Research)

Structural ceramics, such as silicon nitride, silicon carbide, alumina and zirconia, have more potential than metallic materials for practical applications to various kinds of engineering components, especially for high temperature applications. For example, automotive engine parts, such as turbocharger rotors and swirl chambers, and ball bearing systems have been produced on a commercial basis using these materials for the last ten years. These industrial motivations have stimulated extensive progress in the research on evaluation of the strength properties of ceramics. In particular, cyclic fatigue has been investigated as one of the major concerns in the design of reliable ceramic components, and many researchers have been engaged in the field of cyclic fatigue in ceramics. As a result, new aspects such as crack bridging, R-curve behaviour and fracture morphology have been clarified in the last decade. This book presents, in three sections, the most recent topics and experimental techniques in Japan, concerning ceramic fatigue under cyclic loading. The first two sections provide state-of-the-art references for a fundamental understanding of ceramic fatigue, while the third section presents more complicated analytical techniques for statistical treatment and engineering application.