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Atomic force microscopy is used to investigate the possibility of crack tip cavitation during crack growth in silicate glasses. Matching areas on both surfaces of a crack were mapped and then compared for soda-lime silicate glass and for silica glass. For both glasses surfaces matched to better than 0.3 nm normal to the surface and 5 nm parallel to the surface. We could find no evidence for cavity formation in our study and suggest that completely brittle fracture occurs in glass.
Citation
Physical Review Letters
Pub Type
Journals
Keywords
atomic force microscopy, crack growth, fracture, glass
Citation
Guin, J.
and Wiederhorn, S.
(2008),
Fracture of Silicate Glasses: Ductile or Brittle?, Physical Review Letters
(Accessed October 13, 2025)