Mechanical behavior of a borosilicate glass under aqueous corrosion

In France, fission products are being vitrified for a possible final geological disposal. Under disposal conditions, corrosion of the glass by groundwater as well as stress corrosion because of stresses occurring at surface flaws cannot be excluded. Within this framework, the mechanical behavior of the French simulated nuclear waste glass SON68 was studied by Vickers indentation and fracture experiments in air and in a corrosive solution. The glass was corroded at 90 degrees C in a solution enriched with Si, B, and Na. The results showed that the glass corrosion enhances the cracks propagation relative to experiments in air. The indentation fracture toughness (K-IC) obtained using a four-point bending test showed that the K-IC of the glass decreased with increasing corrosion time.