A study of the mechanical properties of highly porous ceramics using acoustic emission

in this paper the results of indirect tensile tests on highly porous ceramics are presented. A relation between the mechanical strength of the highly porous ceramic materials and Acoustic Emission (AE) has been established. We have shown that the amplitude distribution of the AE events depends on the crack velocity, which itself depends on the stress intensity of the crack. Apart from the Brazilian (side crushing strength) tests also multi-point loading experiments were carried out. The AE results show the additional damage accumulation due to compressive/shear stresses. (C) 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers.