Universal Biot number determining stress duration and susceptibility of ceramic cylinders to quenching

Abstract

A universal Biot number, which not only describes the susceptibility of ceramic cylinders to quenching but also determines the duration that ceramic cylinders are subjected to thermal stress during thermal shock, is theoretically obtained. The analysis proves that thermal shock failure of ceramic cylinders with a Biot number greater than the critical value is a rapid process, which only occurs in the initial heat conduction regime. The results provide a guide to the selection of ceramic materials for thermostructural engineering, with particular reference to thermal shock.

Keywords:

• thermal properties
• ceramics
• thermal shock
• Biot number

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundations of China (Grant Nos. 10672164, 90716004, 10732050 and 10721202) and CAS Innovation Program (Grant No. KJCX2-YW-M04).