Reading Assignment 1 (100 pt)

Due date: Mar 2, 2017

Read paper Overcoming the brittleness of glass through bio-inspiration and micro-
architecture by Mirkhalaf et al. and answer the following questions.

Submissions: Please turn in hardcopy of your answers no later than 5 pm on the due date.
Use sketches and mathematical equations to justify your answers whenever possible.

1. (5 pt) Tooth enamel or mollusk shells contain more than 95 vol.% of brittle minerals, yet
they are very tough and durable. What is the toughening mechanism in these natural
materials?

2. (10 pt) Inspired by natural materials, how do the authors make brittle glass into a tough
and deformable material? (Explain the experimental steps involved.) How could the UV
laser used here engrave the interior of the glass without damaging its exterior?
3. (15 pt) After reading the paper, you decide to do a similar fracture tests using the
following single edge notched tensile specimens (a) and (b) made from the same
borosilicate glass (density =2.6 g/cm3, elastic modulus E = 70 GPa, yield strength y=70
MPa, Poissons ratio =0.21, Fracture toughness KIc=0.8 MPa ). One sample is thin
and the other one is thick. Calculate the plastic zone size (rp) for each specimen, are they
the same?

4. (5 pt) Consider both specimens from question 2, is small scale yielding (SSY) condition
satisfied?
5. (10 pt) For specimen (b) from question 2, draw the K annulus (schematic) and determine
the boundaries of the K annulus on the crack plane. (show mathematical calculations to
justify your conclusion)

6. (20 pt) The stress intensity factor of a single edge notched tensile specimen can be
expressed as . Determine the coefficient Y for specimens (a) and (b) from
question 2.

7. (10 pt) Re-derive eqn. (6), show all important steps for your derivation.

8. (10 pt) A glass with a surface crack is engraved as shown in Fig. 3(a). An interface, with a
fracture toughness of 0.6 MPa , is inclined at an angle of 50o from the surface crack.
The bulk glass has a fracture toughness of 0.8 MPa . Will the crack propagate in the
bulk or along the interface once a large enough tensile load is applied? What happens if
the inclined angle is changed to 70o?
9. (10 pt) You followed the experimental procedure described in the paper and engraved
two glass samples with the following line patterns. Which sample (a or b) do you think
will have a higher fracture toughness? Why?

10. (5 pt) Pose one question to the papers authors, the answer to which should go beyond
the reading content. The question will reflect your curiosity about the topic and reveals
what you think are the implications or applications of the paper.