Why Ceramics Are Brittle

Introduction:
Ceramics is a refractory, inorganic, and nonmetallic material. Strength of ceramics

is very dependent upon the flaw distribution in the materials. These "flaws" can be
of a microscopic nature and may not be flaws from a normal perspective. Because
small flaws can have a very large effect, the strength data of ceramics tends to be
widely scattered. In many applications, brittle fracture limits the use of ceramic
materials. Failure in applications is often caused by brittle fracture, which results
from thermal expansion mismatch between ceramic and metallic parts of electronic
packages.
In order to understand the fracture behavior of ceramic materials, it is necessary to
understand the mechanisms of fracture of materials that are entirely brittle. In these
materials plastic deformation by dislocation motion does not occur, or occurs to
such a limited extent that cracks are sharp to the atomic level of the solid.
Resistance to fracture is provided by the lattice itself, and not by the movement of
dislocations. Grain boundaries and crystal anisotropy are shown to be especially
important in establishing the fracture resistance of ceramic materials.
Ceramics are brittle:

Ceramics have very low toughness values and also fracture toughness values.
Recall that brittle fracture consists of formation and propagation of cracks through
the cross section in a direction perpendicular to the applied load. Usually the crack
growth is trans-granular and along specific crystallographic directions.
The properties of ceramic materials, like all materials, are dictated by the types of
atoms present, the types of bonding between the atoms, and the way the atoms are
packed together. The type of bonding and structure helps determine what type of
properties a material will have.
At room temperature, both crystalline and non crystalline ceramics almost always
fracture before any plastic deformation can occur in response to an applied tensile
load. Furthermore, the mechanics of brittle fracture and principles of fracture
mechanics also apply to the fracture of this group of materials. It should be noted
that stress raisers in brittle ceramics may be minute surface or interior cracks
(micro cracks), internal pores, and grain corners, which are virtually impossible to
eliminate or control. For example, even moisture and contaminants in the
atmosphere can introduce surface cracks in freshly drawn glass fibers; these cracks
deleteriously affect the strength. In addition, plane strain fracture toughness values
for ceramic materials are smaller than for metals.
There is usually considerable variation and scatter in the fracture strength for many
specimens of a specific brittle ceramic material. This phenomenon may be
explained by the dependence of fracture strength on the probability of the existence
of a flaw that is capable of initiating a crack.
The atoms in ceramic materials are held together by a chemical bond. Ceramics are
crystalline structures that are made of covalent or ionic bonds, and sometimes both.
By definition, covalent bonds are unidirectional in nature. As a result, when the
force is applied on these covalent bonds, they resist the force without yielding.
This explains why ceramics act so tough and do not change shape under any
circumstance. On exceeding the threshold limit, the ceramic articles break and thus
happen to be very brittle.
The reasons that ceramics are so brittle:
1. Ceramic materials inherently have cracks, flaws, pores and inclusions.

These act as stress risers and failure initiates at one of these and
propagates quickly (because there is no energy absorbing mechanism as
there is in metals,) causing brittle fracture.
2. The covalent bond is directional and electrons are shared. Hence, bonds
will not reform easily and so brittle fracture will occur.
3. Since the crystal structures tend to be complex, there are limited slip
systems and large Burgers vectors. (called complex dislocation
structures)
4. Potential slip planes may involve like charges moving over each other
which will cause separation and so brittle fracture will occur.
5. Pore Free Ceramics have binder exists instead of a potential defect and
they are distributed minutely and uniformly. When a specimen is loaded,
a lot of cracks occur in boundary between binder and ceramic grain and
strain energy is released. Some clusters are formed by some cracks'
uniting.
Brittle fracture in ceramics:
Brittle fracture takes place without any appreciable deformation, and by rapid
crack propagation. The direction of crack motion is very nearly perpendicular to
the direction of the applied tensile stress and yields a relatively flat fracture
surface, as indicated in Figure
Brittle fracture in amorphous materials, such as ceramic glasses, yields a relatively

shiny and smooth surface. For most brittle crystalline materials, crack propagation
corresponds to the successive and repeated breaking of atomic bonds along specific
crystallographic planes; such a process is termed cleavage. This type of fracture is
said to be trans-granular, because the fracture cracks pass through the grains.
Macroscopically, the fracture surface may have a grainy or faceted texture, As a
result of changes in orientation of the cleavage planes from grain to grain. In some
a, crack propagation is along grain boundaries; this fracture is termed inter-
granular.
Metals are ductile:

Ductility of metals is due to the presence of electrons that are scattered and move
around all through the metals entire structure. Due to this, the metal does not crack
upon pulling or smashing because of the absence of similarly charged ions that are
facing each other for repulsion. Electrons are present moving like a sea in the metal
causing no repulsion and hence the charges are not lined up even when the metal is
pulled.
The metallic bonds present in the metals are also responsible for the elevated levels
of ductility. The valence shell electrons in the metallic bond are delocalized which
is among many atoms. These electrons that are delocalized from the valence shell
help in the sliding of the metals one over the other without having been subjected
to very strong repulsive forces allowing shattering of other materials.The bonds
across grain boundaries in the crystal space lattice of different metals varies, but
they can undergo large plastic deformations without rupture.
Malleability and ductility:
Metals are described as malleable (can be beaten into sheets) and ductile (can be
pulled out into wires). This is because of the ability of the atoms to roll over each
other into new positions without breaking the metallic bond.
If a small stress is put onto the metal, the layers of atoms will start to roll over each
other. If the stress is released again, they will fall back to their original positions.
Under these circumstances, the metal is said to be elastic.
If a larger stress is put on, the atoms roll over each other into a new position, and
the metal is permanently changed.
Ductile fracture in metals:
The most common type of tensile fracture profile for ductile metals is brittle. The
fracture process normally occurs in several stages.
First, after necking begins, small cavities, or micro voids, form in the interior of
the cross section. Next, as deformation continues, these micro voids enlarge, come
together, and coalesce to form an elliptical crack, which has its long axis
perpendicular to the stress direction. The crack continues to grow in a direction
parallel to its major axis by this micro void coalescence process. Finally fracture
ensues by the rapid propagation of a crack around the outer perimeter of the neck
by shear deformation at an angle of about 45º with the tensile axis. This is the
angle at which the shear stress is a maximum.
Sometimes a fracture having this characteristic surface contour is termed a cup and
cone fracture because one of the mating surfaces is in the form of a cup, the other
like a cone. In this type of fractured specimen the central interior region of the
surface has an irregular and fibrous appearance, which is indicative of plastic
deformation.
References:
 Callister, W.D. Jr., Material Science and Engineering, an Introduction 6 th Edition,
Wiley, 2003.
 Abe, H., "Mechanical Properties of Engineering Ceramics," Ceramic Bulletin,
Vol. 64, No. 12, pp.1594-1596, 1985.
 www.ceramics.org. (American ceramic society)
 Rolf, R.L. and Weyand, J.D., "Structural Design of Brittle Materials," Ceramic
Bulletin, Vol. 64, No. 10, pp.11360-1363, 1985.

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What are some of the reasons why ceramics are brittle?

How does brittle fracture occur in ceramics?

Introduction:

Ceramics is a refractory, inorganic, and nonmetallic material. Strength of ceramics

Ceramics are brittle:

The reasons that ceramics are so brittle:

1. Ceramic materials inherently have cracks, flaws, pores and inclusions.

Brittle fracture in amorphous materials, such as ceramic glasses, yields a relatively

Metals are ductile:

Malleability and ductility:

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