TY - JOUR A1 - Blaeß, Carsten A1 - Müller, Ralf T1 - Fast crack healing in glass-matrix composites with rigid filler percolation frameworks N2 - To ensure the durability of solid oxide fuel cell sealants, the understanding of the microstructural influence on viscous crack healing is essential. To this end, the effect of microstructure with respect to the spatial distribution of filler particles on viscous crack healing was studied with confocal laser scanning microscopy in glass-matrix composites (GMCs) made by mix-milling and sintering of sodalime magnesium silicate glass and Φ ≈ 6 vol% ZrO2 chemically inert rigid filler particles. This way, no change in Φ occurred during the crack healing treatments studied on Vickers indentation-induced radial cracks in polished GMC surfaces. Different microstructures were mimicked using different ZrO2 particle sizes for mix-milling. Unlike coarse ZrO2 particles, similar in size to the glass particle, fine ZrO2 particles, much smaller than the glass particles, form a rigid percolation framework (RPF) of ZrO2 filler particles around the former glass particles or glass particle agglomerates. For this RPF microstructure, crack healing was observed more readily as crack healing retardation phenomena like large-scale crack widening and crack tip rounding were strongly reduced, whereas narrow cracks could still heal locally within the glassy regions. KW - Crack healing KW - Glass matrix composite KW - Rigid percolation frameworks KW - Vickers indentation PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-625921 DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.20386 SN - 0002-7820 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-62592 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Holzer, Marco A1 - Johansen, Sidsel M. A1 - Christensen, Johan F.S. A1 - Smedskjaer, Morten M. A1 - Cicconi, Maria Rita A1 - de Ligny, Dominique A1 - Müller, Ralf A1 - de Camargo, Andrea S.S. A1 - Maaß, Robert T1 - Direct connection between secondary relaxation mode and fracture toughness in alkali-aluminosilicate glasses N2 - Oxide glasses are intrinsically brittle, lacking sufficient atomic-scale mechanisms that can relax mechanical stresses in the vicinity of a propagating crack. As a result, fracture is typically well-captured by considering local bond rupture at the crack tip. Here we demonstrate that barrier energies related to the low-temperature 𝛾-relaxation mode in alkali-aluminosilicate glasses are inversely related to the fracture toughness measured via standardized three-point bending fracture experiments. This holds true for both a series with varying cations (Li, Na, K) and one with varying Li concentration. The structural rationale for this finding is gained via Raman spectroscopy. The findings suggest that a fundamental structural relaxation mode measured on bulk specimens can serve as an effective guideline for fracture toughness of oxide glasses. Data for additional silicate glasses support this conclusion. KW - Fracture toughness KW - Oxide glass KW - Mechanical properties KW - Alkali-aluminosilicate glasses KW - Internal friction PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-651540 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtadv.2025.100669 SN - 2590-0498 VL - 29 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier Ltd. CY - Amsterdam, Niederlande AN - OPUS4-65154 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -