The chemical susceptibility was measured by a dynamic method on aeroge
ls immediately after supercritical drying and after oxidation treatmen
t. Five loading speeds between 10 mu m/min and 100 mm/min were used. A
fter oxidation treatment, the Weibull modulus increased, which indicat
es a narrowing of the strength distribution. Toughness of the aerogels
was measured by the single edge notch beam technique. 'As-prepared' a
erogels did not show slow crack propagation. However, as the oxidized
materials exhibit a stress corrosion phenomenon, the crack propagation
rate was evaluated using the median value of strengths obtained with
the highest crosshead speed. The lifetime prediction is estimated as a
function of failure probability and from a proof testing experiment.