The ability of Ormosil coatings to increase the strength of glass has been investigated. To this end as-received and Vickers identified soda-lime-microscope glass slides were coated and their strength was determined using 4-point bending tests. Linear elastic fracture mechanics and Weibull statistics were utilised to examine and interpret the strength results. In order to define the coating that provides the maximum glass strength iprovement a number of parameters such as coating composition, curing time and temperature and coating thickness were examined. SEM examination revealed that the coating penetrates deep into pre-existing and/or artificially induced cracks, making strong bonds with its faces, resulting to significant increases of glass strength.
