25 February 2025 - New publication in European Journal in Mineralogy

In this study, we investigate the tensile deformation and fracture of amorphous olivine. We adopt an original approach by straining amorphous olivine thin films deposited by PLD on a polymer substrate. By conducting tensile tests in-situ under an optical microscope in conjunction with digital image correlation, we determine the maximum strain a-olivine can withstand without fracturing and thereby estimate the lower bound of its intrinsic strength value. We show that the cracks are initiated at an applied strain of approximately 0.8 % due to the presence of numerous defects that act as stress concentration points and sites of crack initiation. Macroscopically, amorphous olivine exhibits a typical brittle fracture morphology manifested by long, straight, and parallel cracks. A novel methodology for capturing the evolution of maximal local strains within the intact film fragments as a function of increasing global strain is introduced, enabling the estimation of the intrinsic strength of amorphous olivine. It is demonstrated that a-olivine can withstand tensile strains of up to 2 %, corresponding to a strength of approximately 1.8 GPa.

To learn more:

J. Jarnot, R. Dohmen, C.O.W. Trost, C. Mitterer, P. Cordier & O. Glushko (2025) Extrinsic and intrinsic strength of amorphous olivine films. European Journal of Mineralogy, 37(1), 91-99. https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-37-91-2025