Rheology of Earth Materials :
Closing the gap between timescales in the laboratory and in the mantle

12 January 2024 - Invited Conference of H. IDRISSI at MechGlass2024

Room temperature viscoplastic response of amorphous olivine films revealed by advanced ex-situ and in-situ TEM nanomechanical testing

Glass is an everyday material, which humanity has used since the Stone Ages and fabricated since
well before the Common Era. Today its uses range from cookware in our kitchens to lenses in
outer space and high-tech components. The wide use of glasses is due to numerous advantageous
properties, including transparency, high stiffness and hardness, lowthermal expansion, high melting
point, relative inertness, etc., yet despite these numerous advantageous properties glass still has
a major drawback: It is fragile. Industry has tackled this issue via several schemes: altering the
chemical composition, invoking phase separation, layering glass, replacing Na+ ions by K+ ions, etc.
This thematic day will look at current issues concerning the mechanical properties of glasses with
special emphases on:
• Plasticity
• Fracture across time and length scales
• Micromechanics
• Issues concerning industrial applications (including microelectronics)
• Emerging issues (including 3D printing)
• ...

Detailed programme