Atomic-scale mechanisms of densification in cold-compressed borosilicate glasses

KH Lee and YJ Yang and LF Ding and B Ziebarth and MJ Davis and JC Mauro, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, 104, 2506-2520 (2021).

DOI: 10.1111/jace.17681

Knowledge of the underlying structural response during deformation processes is essential for understanding the macroscopic mechanical response of glass. Here we present results from cold compression- decompression molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of two multicomponent borosilicate glasses, Borofloat(R)33 (Boro33) and N-BK7(R) (N-BK7). Our results suggest that the densification of these two borosilicate glasses involves different types of structural changes. The fraction of permanent densification can be correlated to the change in intermediate- range structure. By performing Voronoi analysis, we quantify the contributions to densification from different cation types in these two multicomponent borosilicate glasses, finding that 3-coordinated cations facilitate the densification process. Higher-coordinated cations are relatively stable and can even show a slight expansion in their Voronoi volume.

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