Failure studies of glass fibers

This dissertation is divided into six sections. The first section includes a review of the literature on the mechanical properties of glass, including glass strength. Section two describes a study of the effects of composition of calcium aluminoborosilicate glasses on the inert and room temperature two-point bending failure characteristics of glass fibers, including fatigue and aging effects. Sections three and four include studies of the effects of composition and structure of alkali silicate and aluminosilicate glasses on the inert two-point bending fiber failure properties. Section five describes the inert two- point bending failure results of sodium borate glass fibers. Section six includes a study of the effects of melting time and temperature (i.e. thermal history) on the resulting two- point bending failure properties of glass fibers produced from a variety of glass compositions. Throughout the course of this work, new experimental equipment and techniques were developed so that high quality failure measurements could be obtained. When glass melts were prepared to ensure homogeneity, the failure properties were shown to be sensitive to glass composition and structure and the reproducibility of the failure data was less than for a variety of different silicate glass compositions. Fibers have also been aged under controlled humidity and temperature conditions to characterize the effects of aging time on the failure strain. With the ability to produce and test high quality fiber, a new failure property of glass has been observed. Fibers tested under liquid nitrogen produce failure strains that depend on the testing rate of the two-point bending equipment. In the case of silica glass fibers, failure strain increases with increasing testing rate, an effect attributed to \u27normal\u27 inert fatigue behavior. However, some glasses, such as the high alkali silicates and soda lime silicates, show the opposite dependence of failure strain on testing rate, where slower testing rates produce greater failure strains (i.e. an inert delayed failure effect ). With the ability to determine the intrinsic (flaw-free) failure properties of glass and the dependence of these properties on testing rate, a new insight to the understanding of glass failure and strength with relation to composition and structure may be possible --Abstract, page iv