This article discusses the fracture behavior of silicate glasses, more specifically, soda-lime-silicate glass, borosilicate glass and vitreous silica. It analyzes the testing and calculation of dynamic fatigue and slow-crack-growth for lifetime prediction of glasses. The article illustrates the phenomenon of static fatigue and concludes with a discussion on the role of surface damage in strength and fatigue behavior.

This article describes the fatigue mechanism and behavior of environmentally induced fatigue and cyclic fatigue. It discusses three basic strength test methods, namely, static, dynamic, and cyclic, along with their analytical relations for determining the fatigue parameters and behavior of ceramics and glasses. The article explains the double torsion and double-cantilever beam fracture mechanics methods, which employ test specimens with relatively large, induced cracks. Crack growth data are typically determined directly by the observation of the crack or by devices that monitor test specimen compliance, such as clip gages and strain gages.