Strength of a Ceramic at High Temperatures Under Biaxial and Uniaxial Tension

A design is presented for a fixture to test concentric-ring loaded disks and four-point loaded plates at high temperatures. In this fixture the loading plunger is guided by flexure plates to determine the load path with accuracy. The uniaxial and equibiaxial tensile strengths of a brittle material were measured at 982°C with this fixture. For lapped surfaces, the equibiaxial tensile strength of dense, isostatically pressed, sintered alumina was 16.0% lower than the uniaxial tensile strength. The uniaxial strength at 982°C was 42.3% lower than the previously reported value for comparable tests at room temperature. The effect of frictional forces and lateral constraint, of specimen and loading geometry, and of local stresses on the nominal stress are discussed.