Experimental tests and numerical simulations of ultimate strength on acid etching tempered glass under four-point bending

Abstract

Acid etching tempered glass (AETG) is a new building material formed by chemical etching of the surface of tempered glass (TG). It is considered that the bending strength of the specimen will show great dispersion due to the comprehensive influence of surface defect distribution. This paper studies the influence of three key factors, including the etching process, age, and loading rate, on bending strength by a four-point bending test. Two-parameter Weibull function is used to analyze the test results so that the characteristic values of the bending strength of specimens in each group can be obtained. The XFEM model of AETG was established based on the experimental results. The results show that the acid etching process changes the surface roughness and surface residual surface stress of TG. The bending strength is improved obviously but can be stabilized gradually after six months. The established XFEM model can better simulate the development of stress corrosion cracking and is close to the characteristics of failure fragments in the experiment.