Relation between multiregion crack growth and dynamic fatigue of glass using indentation flaws

The influence of transport-limited kinetic crack growth on the fatigue properties of soda-lime glass was examined. Dynamic fatigue data were taken on specimens with controlled indentation flaws and were compared with the predicted response from measured crack velocity characteristics. Heptane was used as the operational test environment because of its pronounced crack velocity plateau; control tests in water served to establish a baseline reference for comparing the results. Frac-tographic observations using a stress wave marker technique showed a complex growth history for flaws broken in heptane compared to that for flaws broken in water. The magnitude of the predicted region II influence is too small to be detected in the dynamic fatigue results, even allowing for the relatively high degree of data reproducibility. The implications of this conclusion for lifetime predictions are discussed.