Abstract
An impact testing equipment employing a long column weight with semi-conductor strain gages was developed to evaluate the impact strength of structural ceramics. The advantages of the method are that the one-dimentional wave propagation in the column makes it possible to measure the impact load accurately, and that the impact resistance of material can be expressed in term of stress. Three -point bending impact strength was obtained on such structural ceramics as alumina and silicon carbide to know the relation between impact strength and strain rate. The results obtained are as follows. When the strain rate was less than 9S-1, the impact strength was independent of the strain rate and its value was almost the same as the static strength. But, when the strain rate was greater than 9S-1, the impact strength increased with strain rate.
