Failure probability of ceramic components in multiaxial stress state can be predicted using the uniaxial test results (e.g. tension test, 4-point-bending test) when a suitable multiaxial criterion, which introduces the triaxiality of stress state, is known. In this article, tension–torsion tests were performed with alumina (Alsint 99.7) specimens from a standard manufacturer under two different load cases. Next experimental results were compared with the numerically calculated effective volume and effective surface values according to different multiaxial failure criteria. It was concluded that the specimens failed due to surface flaws and the normal stress criterion is the most appropriate criterion for the strength prediction of alumina ceramics under multiaxial stress state. Furthermore, it was shown that the Weibull modulus does not play a big role for the prediction of strength of alumina ceramics.
