Duality in the Creep Rupture of a Polycrystalline Alumina

Creep rupture experiments performed on a polycrystalline alumina have revealed a duality in fracture behavior associated with a crack blunting threshold. At high stresses, or in the presence of large preexisting flaws, fracture is dictated by the slow creep growth of flaws and exhibits substantial statistical variability. At lower stresses, preexisting flaws blunt, and failure is delayed. In this regime, failure occurs by the coalescence of creep damage, manifested as shear bands, and the failure strain becomes inversely dependent on the applied stress.