Failure and fragmentation of alumina cylinders under compressive loading

Quasistatic compressive strength of alumina (Al(2)O(3)) cylinders was measured using specimen of two sizes. The strength of the material was dependent on the specimen size. High speed video photography showed that the failure of the cylindrical specimen started from axial splitting, and after failure the specimen fragmentized into small pieces. Although the loading applied to the specimen was quasistatic, the failure and fragmentation processes of the materials were dynamic. A fragmentation model was proposed for estimating the average sizes of the fragments. The calculated fragment sizes agreed reasonably well with the experimental data.