Scaling Exponents for Fracture Surfaces in Homogeneous Glass and Glassy Ceramics

Abstract

We investigate the scaling properties of postmortem fracture surfaces in silica glass and glassy ceramics. In both cases, the 2D height-height correlation function is found to obey Family-Viseck scaling properties, but with two sets of critical exponents, in particular, a roughness exponent zeta approximately 0.75 in homogeneous glass and zeta approximately 0.4 in glassy ceramics. The ranges of length scales over which these two scalings are observed are shown to be below and above the size of the process zone, respectively. A model derived from linear elastic fracture mechanics in the quasistatic approximation succeeds to reproduce the scaling exponents observed in glassy ceramics. The critical exponents observed in homogeneous glass are conjectured to reflect the damage screening occurring for length scales below the size of the process zone.