Subcritical crack growth and power law exponent of Y-Si-Al-O (-N) glasses in aqueous environment

The subcritical crack growth resistance in water of a Y–Si–Al–O and Y–Si–Al–O–N glasses has been investigated with three point bending experiments. It has been shown that the SCG behaviour of the Y–Si–Al–O–N glass is superior to that of the Y–Si–Al–O glass. This is reflected by the power law exponent n which is 21 for the Y–Si–Al–O glass and 63 for the Y–Si–Al–O–N glass. Mechanistic implications of these observations are discussed.