microcrackn.
/ˈmʌɪkrə(ʊ)ˌkrak/, U.S. /ˈmaɪkroʊˌkræk/, /ˈmaɪkrəˌkræk/ Chiefly Metallurgy and Geology.
A very small or fine crack in a material.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [noun] > a crack or breach > specific type of or having specific cause
fire crack1656
star1838
flake1866
shrinkage crack1867
snowflake1919
microfracture1939
microcrack1950
1950 Welding Res. Suppl. Sept. 473/2 The microcracks have produced..highly localized strain.
1960 W. D. Biggs Brittle Fracture of Steel v. 154 Ingot irons and spectrographically pure irons do contain quantities of iron oxide in the form of inclusions in which micro-cracks may be nucleated.
1972 Science 2 June 1015/1 This can be attributed to the absence of water in the lunar rocks combined with the effects of porosity and microcracks.
1989 Jrnl. Petrol. 30 159 During initial cooling to temperatures at least down to 600°C there was no significant permeability to fluid along grain boundaries or microcracks.
1994 Sci. Amer. Sept. 53/2 The microcracks cooperatively organize to initiate shear fracture, and the specimen fails in a fraction of a second.
2000 Calcified Tissue Internat. 67 260 Branching arrays of microcracks were particularly prevalent in remodeled trabecular bone that had become compact.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1950