Testers of brittle materials can determine where a break originates and why with a new methodology in ASTM C 1322 Standard Practice for Fractography and Characterization of Fracture Origins in Advanced Ceramics (2002). "Fractographic analysis can identify the exact origin of fracture, the stress state, and even the magnitude of stresses in fractured glasses and structural, electrical and biological ceramics," said George Quinn, ceramic engineer, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce. "ASTM Standard Practice C 1322 provides guidance in interpretation and reporting of fractographic features in ceramics and glasses. The standard is applicable to laboratory strength test specimen analysis as well as component failure analysis."

E-mail geoq@nist.gov for more information. ASTM's website is located at http://www.astm.org .