Predicting lifetimes of materials and material structures.

The mechanical strength of brittle materials under stress is of prime importance in applications where allowable design stress, lifetime, and reliability are critical issues. A proper analysis should enable an engineer to select an allowable design stress that will permit a brittle component to function for the expected lifetime with an acceptable low probability of failure. It is the purpose of this paper to provide the background for assessing the mechanical reliability of brittle materials under tensile strength.