Abstract
Cleavage of brittle single crystals is reviewed and the historical criteria for the phenomenon are critically examined. Previously proposed criteria, including those based on crystal structure (crystal growth planes, the planes bounding the unit cell, and planar atomic packing) and crystal properties (ionic charge of possible cleavage planes, bond density, elastic modulus, and surface free energy), are found to be applicable only to particular crystals or to isostructural groups, but each lacks universal application. It is concluded that the fracture toughness (K Ic) of the crystallographic planes is the most appropriate criterion. Measurements reveal that the ‘cleavage toughnesses’ of brittle single crystals are usually about 1 MPa m1/2 or less.
Measurements of the fracture toughnesses of brittle polycrystalline aggregates are then compared to the single crystal cleavage values in those instances where reliable results are available for the same crystal structures. Polycrystalline toughnesses are consistently higher, in part because of the lack of continuity of cleavage cracks through the polycrystalline aggregates. However, the increment of toughness increase is only 1–2 MPa m1/2. The role of grain texture or preferred crystal orientation is also addressed. It is concluded that polycrystalline aggregate toughnesses are often highly anisotropic and that the values for intensely oriented microstructures may approach those for single crystal cleavage.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
C.A. Sorrell,Minerals of the World, Golden Press, New York (1974) 52.
W.C. Roberts, G.R. Rapp, Jr. and J. Weber,Encyclopedia of Minerals, Van Nostrand, New York (1974).
L.B. Berry and B. Mason,Mineralogy, Freeman, San Francisco (1959).
K. Frye,Encyclopedia of Mineralogy, Hutchinson Ross, Stroudsburg, Penn. (1981).
W.D. Deer, R.A. Howie and J. Zussman,Rock Forming Minerals, Vol. 1, Wiley, New York (1962).
M. Fleischer and J.A. Mandarino,Glossary of Mineral Species 1991, Mineralogical Record, Inc., Tucson, Arizona (1991).
C.D. Gribble,Rutley's Elements of Mineralogy (27th ed.), Unwin Hyman, Boston (1988).
J. Sinkankas,Gemstone and Mineral Data Book, Winchester, New York (1972).
C.S. Hurlbut, Jr. and R.C. Kammerling,Gemology (2nd ed.), Wiley, New York (1991).
G.E. Dieter,Mechanical Metallurgy, McGraw-Hill, New York (1986) 250–251.
I. LeMay,Principles of Mechanical Metallurgy, Elsevier, New York (1981) 217–218.
M.A. Meyers and K.K. Chawla,Mechanical Metallurgy, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ (1984) 149–152.
T.N. Courtney,Mechanical Behavior of Materials (1990) 386–440.
V.D. Fréchette, inAdvances in Ceramics, Vol. 28, American Ceramic Society, Westerville, Ohio (1990) 71–76.
M. Sakai and R.C. Bradt,International Materials Reviews 38 (1993) 53–78.
M.V. Swain, B.R. Lawn and S.J. Burns,Journal of Materials Science 9 (1974) 175–183.
D. Broek,Elementary Engineering Fracture Mechanics (4th ed.) Martinus Nijhoff, Boston (1986).
B.R. Kulander and S.L. Dean, inProceedings of the International Symposium on Fundamentals of Rock Joints, Centek, Sweden (1985) 85–94.
J.E. Field,Contemporary Physics 12 (1971) 1–31.
J.J. Gilman, inFracture, Wiley, New York (1959) 193–222.
B.K. Atkinson (ed.),Fracture Mechanics of Rock, Academic, New York (1987).
E.J.W. Whittaker,Mineralogical Magazine 46 (1982) 398–399.
O. Vingsbo,Materials Science and Engineering 8 (1971) 32–40.
J.Å. Schweitz and O. Vingsbo,Materials Science and Engineering 8 (1971) 275–283.
R.K. Mishra and G. Thomas,Journal of Applied Physics 48 (1977) 4576–4580.
B.R. Lawn and T.R. Wilshaw,Fracture of Brittle Solids, Cambridge University Press, New York (1975) 57, 82.
R.W. Hertzberg,Deformation and Fracture Mechanics of Engineering Materials, Wiley, New York (1986) 257.
M.F. Kanninen and C.H. Popelar,Advanced Fracture Mechanics, Oxford University Press, New York (1985).
K. Hayashi, M. Namura and T. Nishikawa,Journal of Materials Science of Japan 35 (1986) 66–72.
K. Hayashi, M. Ashizuka, R.C. Bradt and H. Hirano,Materials Letters 1 (1982) 116–118.
C.P. Chen and M.H. Leipold,Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society 59 (1980) 469–472.
R.L. Stewart and R.C. Bradt,Journal of Materials Science 15 (1980) 67–72.
B.K. Atkinson and P.G. Meredith, inFracture Mechanics of Rock, Academic, New York (1987) 477–525.
G.A. Wolff and J.D. Broder,American Mineralogist 45 (1960) 1230–1242.
M. Sakai, R.C. Bradt and D.B. Fischbach,Journal of Materials Science 21 (1986) 1491–1501.
R.F. Cook, T.R. Dinger and D.R. Clarke,Applied Physics Letters 51 (1987) 454–456.
H.W. Liu and K.J. Miller,Journal of Glaciology 22 (1979) 135–143.
K.T. Wan, N. Aimard, S. Lathabac, R.G. Horn and B.R. Lawn,Journal of Materials Research 5 (1990) 172–182.
J.W. Obriemoff,Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 127A (1930) 290–297.
H. Li, M. Jensen and R.C. Bradt,Journal of Materials Science 27 (1992) 1357–1360.
A.V. Milovsky and O.V. Kononov,Mineralogy, Mir Publishers, Moscow (1985) 214.
S.W. Freiman, P.F. Becher and P.H. Klein,Philosophical Magazine 31 (1975) 829–837.
C.N. Ahlquist,Acta Metallurgica 22 (1974) 1133–1137.
B.K. Atkinson and V. Avdis,International Journal of Rock Mechanics Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts 17 (1980) 383–386.
A.T. Santhanam and Y.P. Gupta,International Journal of Rock Mechanics Mining Sciences 5 (1968) 253–258.
P.F. Becher and S.W. Freiman,Journal of Applied Physics 49 (1978) 3779–3783.
J.E. Field and C.J. Freeman,Philosophical Magazine 43 (1981) 595–618.
N.V. Novikov and S.N. Dub,Journal of Hard Materials 2 (1991) 3–11.
M.O. Guillou, G.M. Carter, R.M. Hooper and J.L. Henshel,Journal of Hard Materials 1 (1990) 65–78.
A. Pajares, F. Guibearteau, A. Domiguez-Rodriguez and A.H. Heuer,Journal of the American Ceramic Society 71 (1988) C332-C333.
R.P. Ingal, D. Lewis, B.A. Bender and R.W. Rice,Journal of the American Ceramic Society 65 (1982) C150-C152.
F.O. Bloss and G.V. Gibbs,American Mineralogist 48 (1963) 821–838.
M. Iwasa and R.C. Bradt,Materials Research Bulletin 22 (1987) 1241–1248.
B.K. Atkinson,Pure and Applied Geophysics 117 (1979) 1011–1024.
P.G. Meredith and B.K. Atkinson,Earthquake Prediction Research 1 (1982) 377–391.
W.F. Brace and J.B. Walsh,American Mineralogist 47 (1962) 1111–1122.
R.J. MartinIII and W.B. Durham,Journal of Geophysical Research 80 (1975) 4837–4844.
A. Ball and B.W. Payne,Journal of Materials Science 11 (1976) 731–740.
M. Iwasa and R.C. Bradt, inAdvances in Ceramics, Vol. 10, American Ceramic Society (1983) 767–779.
R.C. Bradt and W.D. Scott, inAlumina, American Ceramic Society (1990) 23–39.
J.L. Wood, R.C. Bradt and P.L. Walker, Jr.,Carbon 18 (1980) 169–178.
R.L. Stewart and R.C. Bradt,Journal of the American Ceramic Society 63 (1980) 619–623.
M. Sakai, R.C. Bradt and A.S. Kobayashi,Nippon Seramikkusu Ronbunshi 96 (1988) 525–531.
A. Ghosh, K.W. White, M.G. Jenkins, A.S. Kobayashi and R.C. Bradt,Journal of the American Ceramic Society 74 (1991) 1624–1630.
R.L. Stewart, M. Iwasa and R.C. Bradt,Journal of the American Ceramic Society 64 (1981) C22.
B.K. Atkinson,Tectonophysics 65 (1980) 281–290.
P.G. Meredith, B.K. Atkinson and N.B. Hillman, inExperimental Petrology, 5th report, National Environmental Research Council, Swindon, Britain, Publication D.18.1981 (1981) 297–298.
C.F. Scrudato, Effect of Heat Treatment on the Microstructure and Fracture Toughness of Arkansas Novaculite, Masters thesis, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania (1986).
B.K. Atkinson,Journal of Geophysical Research 89 (1984) 4077–4114.
D.L. Schnidler, J.W. Hatch, C.A. Hay and R.C. Bradt,American Antiquity 47 (1982) 526–544.
G.H. Beall,Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 129 (1991) 163–173.
R.C. Bradt, R.E. Newnham and J.V. Biggers,American Mineralogist 58 (1973) 727–732.
F. Rummel and W. Müller, Bruchmechanische Untersuchungen fur Salzgestein in der Schachtanlage Asse II. 1. Ber. zum GSF-Auftrag, Best. Nr. 31/139081/83 (1984).
J.A. Salem, J.L. Shannon, Jr. and R.C. Bradt,Journal of the American Ceramic Society 72 (1989) 20–27.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schultz, R.A., Jensen, M.C. & Bradt, R.C. Single crystal cleavage of brittle materials. Int J Fract 65, 291–312 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00012370
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00012370