Abstract :
Abstract:
Glass-ceramics today are used in many applications that require a long service life and/or are used under extreme conditions. However, environmental conditions such as temperature and relative humidity can lead to premature failure, which can be due to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). This thesis focuses on how crystallization changes the SCC behavior of glasses. Two compositions were used in this project: stoichiometric lithium disilicate (LS2) and zinc aluminosilicate (ZAS) compositions. The glass-ceramic structures, obtained after heat treatments, were characterized in terms of crystal phase, size and volume fraction, as well as atomic environments. Their SCC behavior was obtained using an environment-controlled experimental chamber. Both glass-ceramics were more resilient to SCC than their respective parent glasses, which was attributed to their micro-/nano-structure. Subsequent post-mortem fracture surface analyses revealed the impact of crystallization on crack propagation.