Thermo-structural analysis of components in ceramic material

The aim of this paper is the systematic study of thermo-structural behavior of ceramic components, in particular, mixtures of refractory materials with high thermal and mechanical performance. Using 3-point bending tests, the elastic modulus, ultimate stress and elongation was obtained; measured values, also thanks to the use of DIC optical technology, was correlated with the different thickness and specific weight values of the specimens used. In order to characterize the thermal behavior, thermal conductivity and specific heat were measured. The experimentally determined average values of such thermomechanical properties have been used in FEM thermo-mechanical models, developed using target geometries with shapes and sizes typical of manufactured ceramic products. In order to evaluate the goodness and the correctness of the developed models, some specimens having the the same shape of the target geometries used in FEM models have been tested at different load conditions and constraints.