Carolan, DeclanDeclanCarolanIvankovic, AlojzAlojzIvankovicMurphy, NealNealMurphy2013-09-262013-09-262012 Elsev2012-08Journal of the European Ceramic Societyhttp://hdl.handle.net/10197/4613The effect of thermal shock on the exural strength has been investigated experimentally. It was found that the variation in exural strength with quench temperature was influenced by the CBN grain size. Polycrystalline material containing small CBN grains showed a discontinuous drop in measured exural strength above a material dependent critical quench temperature difference, delta Tc. The sharp decrease in measured strength is accompanied by unstable crack propagation. Material containing a significantly larger CBN grain size, exhibited a gradual decrease in strength above the critical quench conditions. The experimental observations agreed with an established theory developed for thermal shock of alumina. The theoretically calculated critical temperatures agree well with the observed experimental data for each material when a aw size equal to the CBN grain size is employed.enThis is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of the European Ceramic Society. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of the European Ceramic Society (32, 10, (2012)) DOI: http://dx.doi/org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2012.03.013Cubic Boron Nitridefracturethermal shockJournal Article32102581258610.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2012.03.0132013-09-24https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/