Fragmentation Of Thin, Chemically Tempered Glass Plates

When strengthening of thin glass is required, thermal hardening no longer works and chemical tempering must be considered. This paper presents the results of a fragmentation test on chemically tempered thin glasses. Compared to thermally tempered glass, they confirm that the elastic energy stored in the tensile stress region is the parameter controlling the glass breaking. A model is being developed that calculates the stress intensity factor along a rectilinear crack front for different thickness stress profiles.