Indentation recovery of soda-lime silicate glasses containing titania, zirconia and hafnia at low temperatures

► The addition of titania, zirconia and hafnia in soda-lime silicate glass increases density, elastic moduli, Vickers hardness and brittleness. ► The effect of titania, zirconia and hafnia on the indentation recovery of soda-lime silicate glass is studied at 25 °C and 100 °C. ► The highest indentation recovery rate of glasses is observed within the first 6 h. ► The indentation recovery rate of glasses decreases with the increase in the size of tetravalent metal cations added. ► All the indentations exhibit three common features: elasticity, viscoelasticity and plasticity.