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Submitted to dynamic loadings, ceramics break into many fragments. Even with
the considerable progress of the last decades, fragmentation remains
misunderstood. Indeed, the effect of the ceramic microstructure on dynamic
fragmentation is a current research issue. In quasi-statics, the general agreement is
that the weakest link theory applies and predicts that fracture occurs at the
weakest flaws: the structure breaks into few fragments. On the contrary,
understanding the role of the defects on dynamic fragmentation is still an open
issue [10]. Ceramics are usually brittle and exhibit a large population of defects.
In dynamics, not only the weakest flaws but a critical population of flaws
initiates. It generates local damage and potentially failure at several fracture sites:
the structure breaks into many fragments.