Loud cracking dinner plate 15 min after dropping

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the phenomenon of a ceramic dinner plate cracking after being dropped but remaining intact for 15 minutes. The consensus is that the impact created micro-fissures in the plate, leading to a tensed structure. Over time, these micro-fissures can expand without external forces, similar to the behavior of tempered glass, resulting in sudden catastrophic failure. This explanation highlights the importance of understanding material stress and structural integrity in ceramics.

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humanoid1000037
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Hi all

Random question: yesterday an empty ceramic / porcelain dinner plate was accidentally dropped on a tiled floor from the dinner table. Amazingly, it did not break. It was picked up and set aside on the kitchen counter, where it remained untouched. After about 15 minutes, there was a loud cracking sound, and it split along a single straight line, causing about 1/3 of the plate to be broken off. I really struggle to come up with an explanation for this, given that there was no heating / cooling taking place, or other external forces being exerted...

Any thoughts would be interesting.
 
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Hi humanoid,

It seems as though the plate has obtained some micro-fissures and a tensed structure by the impact, it is hard to say as no knowledge on manufacturing can be obtained (no need for interpretation).
These fissures can in time go from from micro to macro without any need of force acting externally, like scratching a tempered glass and the catastrophic failure thereafter, just that in this case a small fissure (caused by a tension) grew (slow process) until the structure was destabilized (extremely fast fissure growth).
 
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Lok said:
Hi humanoid,

It seems as though the plate has obtained some micro-fissures and a tensed structure by the impact, it is hard to say as no knowledge on manufacturing can be obtained (no need for interpretation).
These fissures can in time go from from micro to macro without any need of force acting externally, like scratching a tempered glass and the catastrophic failure thereafter, just that in this case a small fissure (caused by a tension) grew (slow process) until the structure was destabilized (extremely fast fissure growth).

Thanks Lok... that explanation makes sense to me!

Regards...
 

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