Crack Arrest in Brittle Ceramics Subjected to Thermal Shock and Ablation

Ceramics are suitable for high temperature applications, especially for aerospace materials. When serving in high temperature environments, ceramics usually have to deal with the challenge of both thermal shock and ablation. We report the crack arrest in brittle ceramics during thermal shock and ablation. In our experiment, the specimens of Al₂O₃ are subjected to oxygen-propane flame heating until the temperature arises up to 1046°C and then are cooled down in air. The crack occurs, however, it does not propagate when arrested by the microstructures (e.g., micro-bridges) of the crack tip. Such micro-bridge enhances the toughness of the brittle ceramics and prevents the crack propagation, which provides a hint for design of materials against the thermal shock.