Assessment of failure temperature of ultra-high temperature ceramic plates

A theoretical model is presented to assess the failure temperature for ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs). The parameters in the present work, such as thermal expansion coefficient and Young's modulus, are considered functions of temperature to calculate the stress field of UHTCs under high temperature conditions. The critical elevated temperature for failure is calculated by using the Maximum Principle Strength theory. By establishing the relation between the temperature and the mechanical properties of the UHTCs, it is found that the failure behavior of UHTCs is affected by initial temperature. © 2010 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.