What is the fracture strength?

[BobGom]

I am having difficult finding the meaning of the term 'fracture strength'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexural_strength" it means the flexural or bending strength but that is unsourced and marked as dubious. I was also wondering if it could be synonymous with fracture toughness or something else entirely. Unfortunately the paper I have come across gives no indication of it's meaning or even the units.

 

[Mapes]

Fracture strength isn't consistently defined, as you've seen. The most common definition I've seen for true fracture strength is the fracture load divided by the final cross-sectional area (see, for example, Hertzberg's Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials). It's measured in units of stress. It's definitely not synonymous with fracture toughness.

 

[oswaler]

Fracture strength refers to the maximum stress or force that a material can withstand before it breaks or fractures. It is a measure of the material's ability to resist external forces that cause it to fracture or break. This can be in the form of tensile, compressive, or bending stresses.

The term "fracture strength" is often used interchangeably with "fracture toughness," but they are not exactly the same. Fracture toughness takes into account the material's resistance to crack propagation, while fracture strength focuses on the maximum stress before failure.

The units of fracture strength can vary depending on the type of stress being applied. For example, in the case of flexural strength, the units would be force per unit area (such as N/m^2 or psi). In the case of tensile strength, the units would be force per unit area as well, but the direction of the force would be along the length of the material.

It is important to note that the fracture strength of a material is not a constant value, but rather depends on various factors such as temperature, loading rate, and material microstructure. Therefore, it is important to specify the conditions under which the fracture strength is measured.

In summary, fracture strength is a measure of a material's ability to resist breaking under external stresses. It is an important property to consider when designing and selecting materials for various applications.