Cracking phenomena in lithium-di-silicate glass ceramics

Lithium-di-silicate glass ceramic (Li2O, SiO2) with uniformly oriented crystals was placed on a Vickers indentation with extrusion axis horizontally parallel to the base axis. The material was rotated through 0°–90° and at each angle a 20 N load was applied to ascertain the crack path. It was observed that the crack length decreases and the crack deviates from its original path with increasing angle. The deviation of the crack was correlated with the component of the crack driving force and the theoretical strength of the aligned crystals at different angles.