Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der zweidimensionalen Simulation der Rissausbreitung mit Hilfe der adaptiven Finite-Elemente-Methode. Das Ziel war die Entwicklung von Algorithmen zur effizienten und automatisierten Modellierung des Risswachstums. Das zugrunde liegende Konzept besteht in der vollständigen Integration aller Teilschritte der Risswachstumssimulation in ein einziges FE-Programm. Während der gesamten Simulation erfolgt durch den Einsatz eines fehlergesteuerten h-adaptiven Verfahrens die automatische Anpassung der FE-Diskretisierung an das gestellte Rissproblem. Die Simulation der spröden Rissausbreitung erfolgt auf Basis der linear-elastischen Bruchmechanik. Die dafür benötigten Spannungsintensitätsfaktoren werden mit Hilfe des J-Integrals in Form der Interaction-Integral-Technik ermittelt. Die Simulation des duktilen Versagens in der Prozesszone an der Rissspitze wird mit Hilfe des Schädigungsmodells von Rousselier beschrieben. Das Kriterium für duktiles Risswachstum basiert auf der Auswertung des akustischen Tensors an der Rissspitze und legt den Beginn der makroskopischen Rissausbreitung mit dem Einsetzen der Lokalisierung fest.

Turbine engine blades are subjected to extreme conditions characterized by significant and simultaneous excursions in both stress and temperature. These conditions promote thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) crack growth which can significantly reduce component design life beyond that which would be predicted from isothermal/constant load amplitude results. A thorough understanding of the thermo-mechanical fatigue crack behavior in single crystal superalloys is crucial to accurately evaluate component life to ensure reliable operations without blade fracture through the use of "retirement for cause" (RFC). This research was conducted on PWA1484, a single crystal superalloy used by Pratt & Whitney for turbine blades. Initially, an isothermal constant amplitude fatigue crack growth rate database was developed, filling a void that currently exists in published literature. Through additional experimental testing, fractography, and modeling, the effects of temperature interactions, load interactions, oxidation and secondary crystallographic orientation on the fatigue crack growth rate and the underlying mechanisms responsible were determined. As is typical in published literature, an R Ratio of 0.7 displays faster crack growth when compared to R = 0.1. The effect of temperature on crack growth rate becomes more pronounced as the crack driving force increases. In addition secondary orientation and R Ratio effects on crack growth rate were shown to increase with increasing temperature. Temperature interaction testing between 649°C and 982°C showed that for both R = 0.1 and 0.7, retardation is present at larger alternating cycle blocks and acceleration is present at smaller alternating cycle blocks. This transition from acceleration to retardation occurs between 10 and 20 alternating cycles for R = 0.1 and around 20 alternating cycles for R = 0.7. Load interaction testing showed that when the crack driving force is near KIC the overload size greatly influences whether acceleration or retardation will occur at 982°C. Semi-realistic spectrum testing demonstrated the extreme sensitivity that relative loading levels play on fatigue crack growth life while also calling into question the importance of dwell times. A crack trajectory modeling approach using blade primary and secondary orientations was used to determine whether crack propagation will occur on crystallographic planes or normal to the applied load. Crack plane determination using a scanning electron microscope enabled verification of the crack trajectory modeling approach. The isothermal constant amplitude fatigue crack growth results fills a much needed void in currently available data. While the temperature and load interaction fatigue crack growth results reveal the acceleration and retardation that is present in cracks growing in single crystal turbine blade materials under TMF conditions. This research also provides a deeper understanding of the failure and deformation mechanisms responsible for crack growth during thermo-mechanical fatigue. The crack path trajectory modeling will help enable "Retirement for Cause" to be used for critical turbine engine components, a drastic improvement over the standard "safe-life" calculations while also reducing the risk of catastrophic failure due to "chunk liberation" as a function of time. Leveraging off this work there exists the possibility of developing a "local approach" to define a crack growth forcing function in single crystal superalloys.

The objective of this study is to develop crack growth analysis methods for functionally graded materials under mode I cyclic loading by using finite element technique. The study starts with the analysis of test specimens which are given in ASTM standard E399. The material properties of specimens are assumed to be changing along the thickness direction according to a presumed variation function used for the modeling of functionally graded materials. The results of the study reveal the influence of different material variation functions on the crack growth behavior. In the second part, the growth of an elliptical crack which is a common case in engineering applications is analyzed. First, mode I cycling loading is applied perpendicular to the crack plane and crack growth profiles for a certain number of cycles are obtained for homogeneous materials. Then, the code is extended for the analysis functionally graded materials. The material properties are assumed to vary as an exponential function along the major or minor axis direction of the crack. The results can be used to examine the crack profile and material constants&rsquo / influence for a certain number of cyclic loading.

[Truncated abstract] The fracture of brittle materials in uniaxial compression is a complex process with the development of cracks generated from initial defects. The fracture mechanism and pattern of crack growth can be altered considerably by the presence of a free surface. In proximity of a free surface, initially stable cracks that require an increase in the load to maintain the crack growth can become unstable such that the crack growth maintains itself without requiring further increase in the load. This leads to a sudden relief of accumulated energy and, in some cases, to catastrophic failures. In the cases of rock and rock mass fracturing, this mechanism manifests itself as skin rockbursts and borehole breakouts or as various non-catastrophic forms of failure, e.g. spalling. Hence, the study of crack-boundary interaction is important in further understanding of such failures especially for the purpose of applications to resource engineering. Two major factors control the effect of the free boundary: the distance from the crack and the boundary shape. Both these factors as well as the effect of the initial defect and the material structure are investigated in this thesis. Three types of boundary shapes - rectilinear, convex and concave - are considered. Two types of initial defects - a circular pore and inclined shear cracks are investigated in homogeneous casting resin, microheterogeneous cement mixes and specially fabricated granulate material. The preexisting defects are artificially introduced in the physical model by the method of inclusion and are found to successfully replicate the feature of pre-existing defects in terms of load-deformation response to the applied external load. It is observed that the possibility of crack growth and the onset of unstable crack growth are affected by the type of initial defect, inclination of the initial crack, the boundary shape and the location of the initial defect with respect to the boundary. The initial defects are located at either the centre or edge of the sample. The stresses required for the wing crack initiation and the onset of unstable crack growth is highest for the initial cracks inclined at 35° to the compression axis, lowest at 45° and subsequently increases towards 60° for all the boundary shapes and crack locations. In the case of convex boundary, the stress of wing crack initiation and the stress of unstable crack growth are lower than for the case of rectilinear and concave boundary for all the crack inclinations and crack locations. The crack growth from a pre-existing crack in a sample with concave boundary is stable, requiring stress increase for each increment of crack growth. The stress of unstable crack growth for the crack situated at the edge of the boundary is lower than the crack located at the centre of the sample for all the crack inclinations and boundary shapes.

Les céramiques sont sensibles à la fissuration lente qui résulte de l'effet conjoint entre un chargement mécanique et l'environnement (taux d'humidité et température). A partir d'études atomistiques disponibles dans la littérature, un modèle cohésif représentant localement la rupture assistée par l'environnement est proposé dans le cadre d'une formulation thermiquement activée. Nous montrons que cette description est capable de rendre compte de la fissuration lente en fatigue statique de monocristaux de céramiques, ainsi que la fissuration lente intergranulaire de polycristaux. Nous soulignons qu'une représentation de la fissuration lente avec la vitesse de propagation V en fonction du taux de restitutions d'énergie G rend compte des caractéristiques intrinsèques de la cinétique de rupture et est préférable à une présentation V-K. Le modèle cohésif permettant d'incorporer une longueur caractéristique dans la description, des effets de taille de grains sont explorés. La prise en compte des contraintes initiales d'origine thermique liées à l'élaboration est nécessaire pour prédire de manière réaliste l'accroissement du seuil de chargement en-dessous duquel aucune propagation n'a lieu ainsi que la résistance à la fissuration lente avec la taille de grains augmentant. La vitesse fissuration lente et le seuil de chargement K0 sont sensibles à l'environnement et notamment à la température et à la concentration d'eau. En augmentant la concentration d'eau et/ou la température, le seuil K0 diminue et la vitesse de fissuration lente augmente. Pour rendre compte de l'influence du taux d'humidité sur la fissuration lente, il est nécessaire de considérer une énergie d'activation ainsi qu'un seuil d'amorçage du mécanisme de réaction-rupture diminuant avec la concentration locale en eau. L'effet de la température est prédit de manière réaliste avec le modèle cohésif proposé et en tenant compte des contraintes initiales thermiques. Nous avons comparé les réponses en fissuration lente de l'alumine et de la zircone et montré qu'intrinsèquement et en l'absence de transformation de phase, la zircone résiste mieux à la fissuration lente que l'alumine. A partir de ces résultats, nous avons abordé l'étude de la fissuration lente de céramiques élaborées par projection plasma. Un endommagement initial de la microstructure à l'échelle des splats est observé sans qu'il n'influence la fissuration lente intra-splats en termes V-G. / Ceramic materials are prone to slow crack growth (SCG)due to the combined effect of the mechanical loading and the environment (moisture and temperature).Based on atomistic studies available in the literature,a thermally activated cohesive model is proposed to represent the reaction-rupture mechanism underlying slow crack growth. The description is shown able to capture SCG under static fatigue on ceramic single crystals as well as intergranular SCG in polycrystals.We emphasize that the representation of SCG with the crack velocity versus the energy release rate G accounts for the intrinsic characteristics of SCG, which is preferable than a usual plot with V-K curves.The cohesive model incorporates a characteristic length scale, so that size effects can be investigated. SCG is grain size dependent with the decrease of the crack velocity at a given load level and improvement of the load threshold with the grain size. To capture this observation, account for the initial thermal stresses related to the processing is mandatory. SCG is also dependent on the concentration of water with an increase of the crack velocity and a decrease of the load threshold with the relative humidity increasing. To predict this effect, the cohesive description needs to account for activation energy and a threshold to trigger the reaction-rupture that depends on the concentration of water. The influence of the temperature on SCG shows an increase in the crack velocity and a decrease of the load threshold for SCG due to the reduction in the initial thermal stresses. The SCG behavior of the alumina and zirconia is compared. Zirconia exhibits a better resistance to SCG compared to that of alumina, in the absence of any phase transformation due to lower kinetics of its reaction-rupture. Based on these results, SCG is investigated in plasma sprayed ceramic. An initial damage at the scale of the splats is observed without effect on load threshold G0 for SCG in V-G plots.

Les pales d’hélicoptère sont des structures composites soumises à un chargement cyclique multiaxial, et leur criticité impose de porter une attention particulière à la tolérance aux dommages. Leur revêtement peut potentiellement présenter des criques suite à certains évènements (impact, défaut, foudre). Ces travaux se focalisent sur un matériau de revêtement donné (tissu de verre) et concernent l’étude de la propagation de coupure (crique) sous chargement cyclique. Les sollicitations de service ont amené à considérer la traction et le cisaillement plan. Une étude expérimentale a été menée afin d’étudier les modes d’endommagement du matériau et sa résistance à la propagation de coupure pour différentes sollicitations (en traction et en cisaillement) et pour les drapages les plus courants. Elle a permis de dégager les mécanismes d’endommagement mis en jeu, et a fourni un ensemble important de propriétés matériau et de données quantitatives de vitesse de propagation. Elle a par ailleurs guidé vers une modélisation par éléments finis adaptée à l’architecture du matériau, et la manière dont il se dégrade en fatigue. Ce modèle repose sur un maillage à l’échelle de la mèche, et la prédiction de la propagation est obtenue par l’utilisation d’une courbe de fatigue S-N. La simulation a été évaluée par comparaison des faciès de rupture, des vitesses de propagation et de l’étendue des zones d’endommagement avec les essais réalisés sur éprouvettes. / Helicopter blades consist of composite structures which have to sustain multi-axial cyclic loading. Because of their criticality, damage tolerance has to be considered carefully. Their skin is subjected to environmental events like impact, flaw, lightning which can cause through-thethickness cracks. The present work focuses on one given skin material (woven glass fabric) and concerns the study of the through-the-thickness crack growth under cyclic loading. In-flight loading lead to consider tension and shear. An experimental study has been carried out to study damage in the material and its crackgrowth resistance under different loadings (tension and shear) and for usual stacking sequences. It highlighted damage mechanisms and provided an important set of material data and crack growth speeds. Besides, this led to a finite element approach adapted to the woven fabric architecture, anddamage feature under fatigue loading. This modeling is based on a bundle scale mesh, a semidiscrete damage modeling and an S-N curve to predict fiber failure. Numerical simulations of crack growth tests were carried out, and results were compared with experiments in terms of crack direction, crack growth speed, and size of damaged area.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T17:19:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CAPA - SUMARIO.pdf: 307847 bytes, checksum: 431911d5eb22b3080df0c9228cba482d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / With increasing competition and reliability in modern equipment, is of vital importance to studies on the structural fatigue life in the time domain and frequency domain, the advance speed and cost reduction in computing greatly simplifies the prediction fatigue life. But it is also necessary to know the modes of fatigue crack growth, and its mechanisms. After a review appropriate to implement a program to estimate the loss of torsional stiffness in a specimen with a crack in Mode II, was developed a device torsional fatigue tests in an attempt to identify the onset of macroscopic crack and study its growth. With learning the operation of the drive system, the system data acquisition device testing, and design and construction of an electronic circuit to shutdown device tests at the beginning of the crack in the specimen, an adequate control and calibration of these components was performed, generating confidence in that joint. This document is the experimentally determined curve of fatigue specimens of SAE 1020 Steel, Grey Cast Iron and Aluminum 6063. They also studied the failure modes of cracks from the beginning until the final rupture of the specimen to verify the failure modes, the crack initiation and propagation of macroscopic materials. It still made a numerical prediction by finite element method the size of the crack. / Com aumento da competitividade e da confiabilidade em equipamentos modernos, é de vital importância os estudos em relação à vida em fadiga estrutural no domínio do tempo e no domínio da freqüência, o avanço da velocidade e redução de custos na área computacional facilita bastante a previsão de vida em fadiga. Mas é necessário também conhecer os modos de crescimento de trinca por fadiga, e seus mecanismos. Após revisão bibliográfica adequada, com implementação de um programa para estimar a perda de rigidez torsional em um corpo de prova com trinca no Modo II, foi desenvolvido um dispositivo de testes de fadiga torsional na tentativa de identificar o início da trinca macroscópica e estudar o seu crescimento. Com o aprendizado do funcionamento do sistema de acionamento, do sistema de aquisição de dados do dispositivo de testes, e a elaboração e construção de um circuito eletrônico para desligamento do dispositivo de testes ao início da trinca no corpo de prova, um adequado controle e calibração destes componentes executou-se, gerando confiabilidade nestes conjuntos. Neste documento é determinada experimentalmente a curva de fadiga de corpos de prova de Aço SAE 1020, Ferro Fundido Cinzento e Alumínio 6063. Também são estudados os modos de falha desde o início da trinca até a ruptura final do corpo de prova para verificar os modos de falha, início e propagação da trinca macroscópica desses materiais. É feita ainda uma previsão numérica através do Método dos Elementos Finitos do tamanho da trinca.

Esse trabalho trata da análise de corpos multi-fraturados utilizando o método dos elementos de contorno. Este método numérico é conhecido por ser robusto e preciso neste tipo de problema e também por requerer pequeno esforço computacional na criação da malha de elementos para o crescimento das fissuras. Duas metodologias para a análise do comportamento das fissuras são consideradas. A primeira é a já consagrada metodologia dual. Por meio desta técnica equações integrais distintas são aplicadas às faces da fissura. Estas equações integrais são escritas em termos de deslocamentos e forças de superfície. A segunda metodologia é a que emprega a formulação singular onde a fissura é considerada como um vazio no domínio sendo as faces da fissura separadas por uma pequena distância. No tocante ao crescimento das fissuras foi desenvolvido um procedimento especial para a determinação da direção de crescimento das fissuras o qual mostrou-se muito eficiente levando a resultados precisos. O crescimento das fissuras é efetuado considerando o fator de intensidade de tensão atuante na extremidade de cada fissura. Dessa forma, as fissuras mais solicitadas apresentam maior comprimento de propagação tornando a análise mais realista. Os fatores de intensidade de tensão são calculados por meio de duas técnicas. A primeira é a já conhecida técnica de correlação de deslocamentos a qual relaciona os deslocamentos atuantes nas faces da fissura. Uma técnica alternativa é também utilizada a qual emprega o campo de tensões presente na extremidade da fissura. Após a determinação dos fatores de intensidade de tensão quatro diferentes teorias de interação de modos podem ser utilizadas para a determinação do ângulo de propagação. Foram analisadas estruturas sendo os resultados comparados aos previstos analiticamente e também numericamente. As respostas obtidas foram satisfatórias validando assim a metodologia proposta neste trabalho / This work deals with analysis of multi-fractured bodies using boundary element method. This numerical method is known to be robust and accurate in this kind of problem and by small computational effort to create elements mesh of crack growth. Two methodologies to analyze of crack behavior are considerate. The first is consecrated dual methodology. Through this technique different kind of integral equations are applied to crack boundaries. These integrals equations are written in displacements and traction variables. Second methodology is singular formulation. Through this technique crack is represented like a hole in body and the crack boundaries is separated by a small gap. For crack growth was created a special proceeding to determination crack growth direction. This method is very efficient and your results are accurate. Crack growth is made through the stress intensity factor performed in crack tip. Then the cracks more requested going to propagate with a larger length’s growth turning this model very realistic. The stress intensity factors are calculated through two techniques in this work. First is the known correlation displacement technique which related displacement in crack boundaries. An alternative technique is also used which consider stress field in crack tip. After determination of stress intensity factors four different theories are used to calculate the crack growth angle. In this work were analyzed structures with results are compared with analytical and numerical answers. The results obtained went very satisfactory validating the methodology proposed

Orientador: Itamar Ferreira / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T13:08:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sandor_LeonardoTaborda_D.pdf: 12861330 bytes, checksum: 648e60efeced3118f4ec8272c46bddcc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Este trabalho propõe uma metodologia para avaliar pontualmente as variações de tenacidade à fratura e taxa de crescimento de trinca de fadiga ao longo da camada cementada de um aço SAE 4320. A pequena espessura dessas camadas impede a retirada de corpos de prova nas dimensões especificadas pelas normas de ensaios de tenacidade à fratura. Assim, para simular uma camada cementada retirou-se amostras de aços SAE 43xx variando-se apenas teor de carbono de 0,20 a 1,00%. Os corpos de prova após eletrodeposição de cobre foram tratados termicamente numa carga de cementação, têmpera e revenimento para serem submetidos aos efeitos térmicos sem absorção de carbono. Os resultados da análise microestrutural, dos ensaios de microdureza, de tração e de tenacidade à fratura e de taxa de crescimento de trinca de fadiga foram agrupados em um único gráfico e comparados com o perfil de cementação de peças de aço SAE 4320 tratadas nas mesmas condições. Foi confirmado que as propriedades de fadiga variam de forma inversamente proporcional à microdureza (HV1) e que a previsão do comportamento de uma trinca numa camada cementada pode ser feita por meio de equação ou diagrama que relacionam a microdureza HV1 com a tenacidade à fratura ou taxa de crescimento de trinca de fadiga (KIC ou da/dN x ??) / Abstract: The purpose of this work is to propose a methodology for evaluating the crack growth rate and the fracture toughness along the SAE 4320 steel carburized layer. Due to the small thickness of those layers, it is impossible to machine specimens from those layers in accordance with standards. For simulating the microstructures of the carburized layer in order to get samples for tensile and the fracture toughness testing, specimens of SAE 43xx, from 0.20 %C to 1.00 %C, steels melted in vacuum induction melting, hot rolled and have been machined, assuming the local influence just the variation of the content of carbon and considering that the contents of the other alloy elements are essentially constant. The specimens after electroplated copper layer were heat treated in an industrial load of carburizing, quenching, and tempering for they be submitted to the thermal effects without absorption of carbon. The results of the microstructure analysis and microhardness, crack growth rate, and the fracture toughness tests were placed in a single graph and compared with the profile of the carburizing of the steel SAE 4320 heat treated in the same conditions. It was confirmed that the crack growth rate and the fracture toughness varies inversely proportional to the microhardness (HV1) and that the forecast of the behavior of a crack in a carburized layer can be made through equation or it designs that relate the microhardness (HV1) with the fracture toughness (KIC or CTODC) and crack growth rate (da/dN X ??) / Doutorado / Materiais e Processos de Fabricação / Doutor em Engenharia Mecânica

O objetivo deste trabalho foi realizar a caracterização microestrutural e das propriedades mecânicas de diferentes cerâmicas odontológicas para entender sua influência nos parâmetros de crescimento de trinca subcrítico (SCG), n (coeficiente de susceptibilidade ao SCG) e ?f0 (parâmetro escalar), determinados por diferentes métodos. Cinco cerâmicas foram avaliadas: porcelanas VM7 (Vita) e D (d.Sign, Ivoclar), vitrocerâmicas E1 (IPS Empress, Ivoclar) e E2 (IPS Empress 2, Ivoclar) e compósito IC (In-Ceram Alumina, Vita). Espécimes em forma de disco (12 mm x 1 mm) foram confeccionados segundo as recomendações dos fabricantes. A caracterização microestrutural dos materiais foi realizada. A tenacidade à fratura (KIc) foi determinada pelo método da fratura por indentação (IF) e indentation strength. Os parâmetros de SCG foram determinados por fadiga dinâmica (com diferentes taxas de tensão constante), fadiga estática (com diferentes níveis de tensão constante) e fadiga por IF. Os resultados mostraram que todas as cerâmicas constituíram-se de fase vítrea e cristalina, com exceção da VM7, composta somente por fase amorfa. D e E1 apresentaram partículas de leucita, em frações volumétricas iguais a 0,16 e 0,29, sendo que E1 apresentou distribuição homogênea destes cristais, enquanto que D apresentou distribuição heterogênea, formando aglomerados. E2 apresentou cristais alongados de dissilicato de lítio, em fração volumétrica de 0,58, que apresentaram tendência de alinhamento com seu maior eixo alinhado perpendicularmente à direção de compactação, que variou angularmente a partir do ponto de injeção. O compósito IC apresentou-se constituído de cristais de alumina parcialmente sinterizados (65% em volume), infiltrados por vidro de baixa fusão. Independentemente do método, IC apresentou maior tenacidade (2,81 MPa.m1/2), seguido por E2 (1,81 MPa.m1/2) e E1 (0,96 MPa.m1/2) e, por último pelas porcelanas D (0,84 MPa.m1/2) e VM7 (0,67 MPa.m1/2). A deflexão de trincas foi o principal mecanismo de tenacificação dos materiais com partículas cristalinas. Para o ensaio de fadiga dinâmica, o valor de n dependeu do material estudado, ficando entre 17,2 e 31,1. Com relação ao parâmetro ?f0, foram encontrados valores entre 48 e 384 MPa. Para materiais a base de silicato de alumínio e potássio (porcelanas VM7 e D e vitrocerâmica E1), a composição química das fases vítreas dos materiais estudados parece estar relacionada com as diferenças entre os valores de n. O parâmetro ?f0 apresentou correlação com KIc e com a microestrutura, tendendo a aumentar com o aumento da fração volumétrica de cristais. No ensaio de fadiga estática, realizado apenas com D, foram obtidos valores de n e ?f0 respectivamente iguais a 31,4 e 47 MPa, sendo considerados similares aos obtidos por fadiga dinâmica. Ao se compararem os valores de n determinados nos ensaios dinâmico e por IF, nota-se que os materiais com maior volume de fase vítrea (VM7, D e E1) apresentaram valores de n próximos para os dois métodos, ao passo que materiais com maior fração de cristais (E2 e IC), apresentaram maiores discrepâncias entre os valores de n. O ensaio de fadiga por IF também permitiu a determinação dos limites de fadiga (KI0), encontrando-se valores de entre 0,48 e 2,89 MPa.m1/2. / The objective of this study was to determine the mechanical properties and the microstructure of different dental ceramics in order to understand their influence on the slow crack growth (SCG) parameters, n (crack growth exponent) and ?f0, (scaling parameter), determined by different methods. The five ceramics tested were: porcelains VM7 (Vita) and D (d.Sign, Ivoclar), glass-ceramics E1 (IPS Empress, Ivoclar) e E2 (IPS Empress 2, Ivoclar) and composite IC (In-Ceram Alumina, Vita). Disc specimens (12 mm x 1 mm) were prepared according to manufacturers\' instructions. The microstructure of the materials was carried out. The fracture toughness (KIc) was determined by means of the indentation fracture technique (IF) and indentation strength. The slow crack growth parameters were determined by dynamic fatigue test (constant stress rate), static fatigue test (constant stress) and the indentation fracture method. The results showed that all ceramic materials were composed by glassy matrix and crystalline phases, except for VM7 (vitreous porcelain). D and E1 presented leucite particles, in volume fractions of 0.16 and 0.29. For E1, the leucite crystals were homogeneously distributed in the glassy matrix, while in D, leucite formed agglomerates. E2 presented lithium dissilicate crystals (58% in volume) that presented an alignment tendency, with their major axis oriented perpendicularly to the pressing direction, which varied angularly from the injection point. IC presented alumina crystals (65% in volume) partially sintered, infiltrated by a lanthanum glass. Regardless of the method, the fracture toughness values were higher for IC (2.81 MPa.m1/2), followed by E2 (1.81 MPa.m1/2) and E1 (0.96 MPa.m1/2), and were lower for the porcelains D (0.84 MPa.m1/2) and VM7 (0.67 MPa.m1/2). Crack deflection was the main toughening mechanism observed for the ceramics containing crystalline phases. Regarding the dynamic fatigue test, the n values depended on the material, ranging from 17,2 to 31,1. With respect to ?f0, the values obtained for this parameter ranged from 48 e 384 MPa. For the ceramics based on potassium and aluminum silicate (porcelains VM7 and D and glass-ceramic E1), the chemical composition of the glass matrix seems to be related to the differences observed in the n values. The ?f0 parameter presented a positive correlation with KIc and volume fraction of crystalline particles. For the static fatigue test, used only for porcelain D, the n and ?f0 values were, respectively, 31,4 e 47 MPa, considered similar to the ones obtained by the dynamic method. When comparing the crack growth exponents determined by the dynamic and indentation fracture tests, it can be noted that n values for the ceramics with high volume fraction of glassy phase (VM7, D and E1) were similar for both methods, but for ceramics with higher crystalline content (E2 and IC), large discrepancies were observed. The static fatigue limit (KI0) was also determined for the five materials, ranging from 0.48 e 2.89 MPa.m1/2.