Abstract
The fracture toughness of ceramics can be measure by such various methods as DT (double torsion), CN (chevron notch) etc. But, the application of these methods to the engineering ceramics is very difficult because of its very high hardness. So, IF (indentation fracture) method is generally used for the evaluation of fracture toughness of ceramics. The Median crack induced by the sharp Vickers indenter was compared with the detected AE (acoustic emission) signal. On the silicon nitride ceramics, the AE test results agree fairly well with the median crack occurance and growth process. But, on the alumina, very many complicated crack signals were detected besides median crack. It can be considered that the IF methods must be used in limited engineering ceramics materials.
