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Rectangular bars loaded by opposite concentrated forces via rollers are appropriatetest specimens for the determination of strength under contact loading which comprisesmultiaxial stresses with very strong stress gradients. In the paper, the stress solutionin the whole specimen is given for the case of a Hertzian contact stress under the loadingcylinders. The contact strengths measured on several ceramics revealed significantly reducedWeibull exponents compared with those obtained from 4-point bending tests.