Abstract
Effect of high voltage screening was examined on mechanical strength of titania ceramics with two different surface roughness. Roughly finished sample showed degraded mechanical strength meaning that the introduced flaw played the role of starting point of mechanical fracture. On such sample, electrically weak parts were eliminated by applying a screening field. Mechanical strength measurement on survived parts revealed that after screening the Weibull plots bended to become a convex curve while plots at high strength region were almost the same. This result means that relatively low mechanical strength parts were eliminated by the electrical method. As a result the Weibull modulus calculated from all the data increased, demonstrating the effect of high voltage screening on titania ceramics containing fracture controlling surface flaws. Roles of the surface flaw such as a common weak spot for both failures are disscussed in relation to the electric field concentration similar to that of mechanical stress.