Fractoemission during crack propagation in glass

Abstract

The phenomenon termed fractoemission was monitored in soda-lime-silica glass specimens during slow crack growth. No electron, ion, or photon signals were detected until crack velocities reached approximately 10−2 m/s. These observations suggest that the more intense fractoemissions observed during fast fracture are due to dissipation of the excess energy associated with unstable crack growth, but more significantly that fractoemissions are not fundamental to crack propagation in glass.