Vickers indentation: a powerful tool for the analysis of fatigue behavior on glass

Indentation undoubtedly represents the most widely used technique for fracture and fatigue characterization of glasses, ceramics and, in general, brittle materials. Especially Vickers indentation cracks have been extensively used for the analysis of sub-critical crack growth behavior in glasses and ceramics. In this work, results regarding sub-critical growth of indentation cracks upon loading in silicate glass are reviewed, analyzed and used to characterize the material in terms of fatigue susceptibility and fatigue limit. Both normal and anomalous glasses are considered; therefore, sub-critical propagation of both median and cone cracks is studied.