Thermal Shock on Brittle Materials

The useful life of many a products in the industries viz. Windshield, oil line, turbine bucket have been cut short or brought to an end by the application of thermal shock which could perhaps be avoided had its properties been known. Research Works on thermal shock revealed that the properties like specific heat and conductivity are particularly important here because these properties determine the temperature, temperature gradient, the rate of change of temperature gradients which, in turn, govern strains or strain rates; where as they do not enter directly into consideration for thermal stresses under known conditions of temperature.