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• A prefabricated crack growth of ceramic under thermal shock is studied in real-time. • A relation between the dynamic stress intensity factor and crack speed is identified. • A numerical model can reproduce the crack evolution process of the thermal shock. The prefabricated cracks propagation of ceramic under flame thermal shock was studied by real-time observation. The experimental results show that wing cracks are generated from both tips of the prefabricated crack, and the complete failure of the samples is a high-speed process. The crack propagation speed is fast at first and then gradually slows down. The maximum propagation speed of the near flame tip increases with the prefabricated crack distance to the heated surface, while an inverse trend is observed for the far flame tip. The effect of prefabricated crack angle on thermal shock crack propagation was also considered. In addition, numerical simulations based on dynamic fracture mechanics were carried out to reproduce the entire cracking process. To this end, the relation between the dynamic stress intensity factors and the crack growth speed in the speed range of 100 m/s to 2600 m/s was identified by combing experiments and numerical simulations. The simulation results and the above-mentioned relation are consistent with the experimental observations. The numerical model can faithfully reproduce the crack evolution process of the thermal shock, which is difficult to observe in an experiment due to the high speed of the cracking process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]