Evaluation of atomic structure of alkaline-earth aluminosilicates and aluminoborosilicate oxide glasses through Neutron and X-ray diffraction at ISIS

Understanding the relationship between plasticity and fracture in silicate glasses is essential to develop mechanically more robust, long-lasting glass products. In several practical use conditions, failure can be induced in glass due to significant tensile stresses. The material’s atomic structure primarily controls the magnitude and direction of these stresses. Recent work showed that substituting silica with boron oxide in alkaline-earth aluminoborosilicate (ABS) glasses resulted in a drastic change of plastic behavior under mechanical indentation from non-homogeneous plastic flow (shear banding) to homogeneous plasticity, also increasing the damage tolerance of the material. According to our recent study, it was also found that the type of alkaline earth ion changes the plastic behavior as well as the damage tolerance. This project aims to investigate the atomic structure of a group of ABS glasses containing different amounts of boron and alkaline-earth cations (Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) using high-energy Neutron and X-ray diffraction experiments at ISIS. The results of this experimental proposal will provide clues about the structural role of boron and alkaline-earth cations on the plastic deformation behavior of these glasses. Moreover, the generated data will be essential for developing and validating interatomic potentials used in molecular dynamics simulations.