LAUSR

Abstract Systematic Monte Carlo simulations were performed in the present study to examine the effectiveness of two-parameter Weibull function in the characterization of the strength variation and fracture reliability of a material whose strength follows a three-parameter Weibull distribution. It was shown that two-parameter Weibull function is sufficiently suitable for the description of the statistical variation of the conventionally adopted small strength sample, regardless of whether the strength follows a two-parameter or a three-parameter Weibull distribution. Furthermore, for a material whose strength follows a three-parameter Weibull distribution, accurate determinations of the fracture stress corresponding to a given fracture probability may be obtained based on two-parameter Weibull analysis. Therefore, it is concluded that three-parameter Weibull function is not necessary for the analysis of the statistical variation of the fracture strength of brittle ceramics.