Flexural Strength Analysis of Dense and Porous Sintered Clay Using Weibull Probability Distribution

Abstract

This research analyzed the results of flexural strength of dense and porous mullite ceramic prepared from kaolin clay by using two-parameter Weibull probability distribution with different estimates. Chemical and physical characterizations of the clay were conducted using XRF, XRD and FESEM. The samples were tested using three point bending tests. The different estimates used in analyzing the results include mean rank, median rank, modified Kaplan Meier and Kaplan Meier. Among the estimates, Kaplan Meier was found to give the best fit with the highest correlation coefficient (R2) value. The porous ceramic had the higher value of Weibull modulus in comparison to the dense ceramic, while the characteristic strength (scale parameter) of the dense ceramic was higher than that of the porous ceramic. The micrograph of the porous ceramic showed a relatively balanced distribution of rounded pores, which is associated with the higher Weibull modulus in the porous ceramic.