Abstract
A study was carried out to determine the relationship between the configurations of mica flakes and the tensile strength of flake aggregates at rupture. The configurations of typical ruby muscovite flakes, with size (square root of flake area) of 100-1300μm and thickness of 1-10μm were measured by a microscopic method
A hypothesis on tensile rupture strength of flake aggregates was deduced, using the well-known Griffith theory on brittle rupture. It was found statistically that tensile strength at rupture of flake aggregates was inversely proportional to the 1.34 power of flake size, or to 0.49 power of flake volume. The correlation coefficient was-0.90 or-0.92, respectively.
Approximate agreement was obtained between observed and inferred multipliers.
