Is glass brittle at all scales

Abstract Although silicate glass is considered as the archetype of brittle materials, which break without deforming irreversibly, its fracture involves some dissipation. By examining the post-mortem fracture surfaces, by following in situ the progression of a stress corrosion crack and by measuring the depth of penetration of water in the material during slow fracture, we show that glass behaves in fact in a quasi-brittle manner, with a damaged zone of ∼10 nm developing ahead of the crack tip.