An Afm Study Of Key Phenomena Involved In The Fracture Of Glass

In the field of fracture of brittle materials, it has been early recognized that most of the key phenomena should take place at the nanometer scale. The best example is provided by the so-called Griffith flaws, the existence of which has been accepted to explain the large difference between experiment and theory. The relevance of this range is not surprising, if we remember that rupture is based on the breaking of chemical bonds. Nevertheless, there is hardly any literature reported on this subject, illustrating the strong need for this kind of investigation.