Font Size: 

The inherent brittleness of ceramics provides a severe mechanical disadvantage which largely limits a
broader use of these materials in advanced structural components. Furthermore, often the poor reliability
due to the scatter in fracture stresses does not facilitate applications. About two decades ago, it was first
observed that certain technical ceramics are able to develop a kind of flaw tolerance by an increase of
toughness with crack extension. Since then this favorable crack resistance (R-curve) behavior has gained
considerable interest in the ceramic community. The involved toughening mechanisms have been studied
and the recognized principles of energy dissipation and crack tip shielding /1-3/ are increasingly utilized
to tailor ceramics and ceramic composites with reduced brittleness.