Abstract
Glass has high theoretical strength; however, microcracks on the surface of the glass greatly decrease the strength. Various methods to alleviate the effects of these cracks have been devised, including ion-exchange, mechanical abrasion, and acid etching. The goal of this experiment was to compare these methods by quantifying the strength via three-point bend testing to determine the modulus of rupture. Optical microscopy confirmed results, including the data that indicated that ion-exchange had the largest effect on strength by either widening or forcing shut cracks. Acid etching produced a moderate improvement in modulus of rupture by smoothing cracks. Finally, mechanical abrasion decreased strength but provided a more uniform strength distribution.
Highlights
Soda-lime-silicate glass is one of the most commonly used glasses due to ease of production and high theoretical strength
Optical microscopy was used to observe the resultant microcracks stemming from the different glass treatments
Greater crack prevalence was a result of the Vickers hardness of alumina being two orders of magnitude higher than that of soda-lime-silicate glass.[7]
Summary
Soda-lime-silicate glass is one of the most commonly used glasses due to ease of production and high theoretical strength. Covalent bonding prevalent in glasses results in theoretical strength on the order of 7 GPa. glasses fall far short of this theoretical strength, failing at around 100 MPa.[1] exchange is putting soda-lime-silicate glass in a bath of potassium nitrate. The larger potassium ions introduce residual compressive stresses on the surface of the glass, and this residual stress compensates for the presence of microcracks.2 1.2 Acid Etching. This large discrepancy in theoretical strength versus actual strength is believed to be the result of microcracks across the surface of the glass.
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