Mechanical Properties of Gelcast Cerium Dioxide from 23 to 1500 °c

This work reports the elastic modulus and four-point flexural strength of a gelcast ceramic, cerium dioxide (ceria), with a microporosity of nominally 20% and a grain size of 11 μm from 23 to 1500 °C. The data augment the sparse data published for ceria and extend previous results by 150 °C. The ceria tested is representative of that constituting the ligaments of a reticulated porous ceramic. The elastic modulus decreases from 90 GPa at 23 °C to 16 GPa at 1500 °C. The flexural strength is 78 MPa below 900 °C and then decreases rapidly to 5 MPa at 1500 °C. These trends are consistent with data reported for other ceramics. Comparing the measured elastic modulus to prior data obtained for lower porosity shows the minimum solid area (MSA) model can be used to extend the modulus data to other porosities. Similarly, the flexural strength data agree with prior data when the effects of specimen size, porosity, and grain size are taken into account.