Monitoring and Assessment of the Effect of Defects in Ceramics

As even small single defects in ceramic components can initiate their failure during operation, with potentially dramatic consequences for the user, researchers worldwide seek to safely detect critical defects and assess their relevance for failure under load before a component goes into application. In this paper, we introduce an experimental technique for observing the initiation and growth of cracks under mechanic al loading in situ by help of X-Ray Computed Tomography (CT) and describe timely concepts to assess the criticality of voids and other defects in the volume or at the surface of ceramic components by help of finite element analysis.