Measurement of the tensile strength of brittle materials

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Three alternative methods for measuring the tensile strengths of brittle materials are investigated and compared with the conventional pull method. These are a bending test, an indentation test and a test in which disks are compressed diametrally. Experiments on plaster of Paris, coal and cement show that, apart from the bending test, the methods give results in reasonable agreement. The bending test, however, is liable to give considerably different results, and it is shown that this can be attributed to its sensitivity to surface conditions.