Chemical Strengthening of Soda Lime Glasses via Ion Exchange Method

Year 2024, Volume: 11 Issue: 3, 1237 - 1244, 30.08.2024

Simay Yanık , Mehtap Arslan , Güldem Kartal Sireli

https://doi.org/10.18596/jotcsa.1378346

Abstract

The aim of this study is to improve the mechanical properties of glasses by the chemical strengthening method via the ion-exchange technique. For this purpose, KNO3 salt baths were utilized for commercial soda-lime glasses. The diffusion-controlled strengthening mechanism is based on creating the compressive stress on the surface of glass by displacing the larger potassium ions with sodium ions. SEM-EDS line scan and XRF analysis, four-point bending, and Vickers hardness tests were performed for the structural and mechanical characterization of ion-exchanged glasses. The optimization of parameters led to a treatment duration of 24 hours at 400°C, resulting in a penetration depth of K+ ions reaching 85 µm. After ion exchange process, the improvement in the hardness, fracture toughness as well as bending strength values ​​of the glasses was observed. The strengthened glasses exhibited notable enhancements in mechanical properties, specifically, hardness increased from 517 HV to 612 HV, and the fracture toughness increased to 3.14 MPa.m1/2 compared to the untreated glass, which displayed the fracture toughness of 1.09 MPa.m1/2. Furthermore, the bending strength of treated specimens significantly improved to 421.6 MPa, representing a five-fold increase over the untreated sample's bending strength of 79 MPa.

Keywords

Chemical tempering, ion exchange, mechanical properties, soda-lime glass, strength

Thanks

The authors would like to thank Prof. Dr. Murat Baydoğan and MSc. Mertcan Kaba for the mechanical tests, and to BSc. İlham Canan İlhan and BSc. Berkay Türkan for their assistance in the experimental procedure.

References

• 1. Zanotto ED, Mauro JC. The glassy state of matter: Its definition and ultimate fate. J Non Cryst Solids; 2017;471:490-5.
• 2. Hasanuzzaman M, Rafferty A, Sajjia M, Olabi A-G. Properties of Glass Materials. Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering. Elsevier Ltd.; 2016. 1–12.
• 3. Scalet BM, Garcia Muñoz M, Sissa Aivi Q, Roudier S, Luis DS. Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Manufacture of Glass. Joint Research Centre Reference Report. 2013. P.485.
• 4. Nordberg ME, Mochel EL, Garfinkel HM, Olcott JS. Strengthening by ion exchange. J Am Ceram Soc. 1964;47(5):215-9.
• 5. Bartholomew RF, Garfinkel HM. Chemical Strengthening of Glass. In: Glass: Scıence And Technology: Volume 5. Academıc Press, Inc.; 1980. p.217–70.
• 6. Leboeuf V, Blondeau JP, De Sousa Meneses D, Véron O. Potassium ionic exchange in glasses for mechanical property improvement. J Non Cryst Solids. 2013;377:60–5.
• 7. Garza-Méndez FJ, Hinojosa-Rivera M, Gómez I, Sánchez EM. Scaling properties of fracture surfaces on glass strengthened by ionic exchange. Appl Surf Sci. 2007;254(5):1471–4.
• 8. West BR. Ion-exchanged glass waveguide technology: a review. Opt Eng. 2011;50(7):071107.
• 9. Sglavo VM. Chemical strengthening of soda lime silicate float glass: effect of small differences in the KNO3 bath. Int J Appl Glass Sci. 2015;6(1):72-82.
• 10. Tang Z, Mauro YZ, Gee C, Duffy DL, Meyer TE, Abrams MB, Walker KA, Mauro JC. Methods for measurement and statistical analysis of the frangibility of strengthened glass. Front. Mater. 2015;2:50.
• 11. Tailony R. Ion exchange glass strengthening using microwave processing. [MSc Thesis]. [Toledo]: The University of Toledo; 2015.
• 12. Kistler SS. Stresses in Glass Produced by Nonuniform Exchange of Monovalent Ions. J Am Ceram Soc. 1962;45(2):59–68.
• 13. Sglavo VM. Influence of KNO3 bath composition on ion exchange process of commercial soda lime silicate float glass. In: Ion exchange technologies. 1st ed. InTech; 2012. p.305-14.
• 14. Varshneya AK. Chemical Strengthening of Glass: Lessons Learned and Yet To Be Learned. Int J Appl Glas Sci. 2010;1(2):131–42.
• 15. Gross TM. Chemical Strengthening of Glass. Springer Handbooks; 2019 p.273–96.
• 16. Erdem İ, Guldiren D, Aydin S. Chemical tempering of soda lime silicate glasses by ion exchange process for the improvement of surface and bulk mechanical strength. J Non Cryst Solids. 2017;473:170–8.
• 17. Gy R. Ion exchange for glass strengthening. Mater Sci Eng B. 2008;149(2):159–65.
• 18. Külcü HK. İndentasyon Tekniği ile Temperli ve Tempersiz Soda-Silika Cam Kırılma Tokluğunun Belirlenmesi. [MSc Thesis]. [İstanbul]: Istanbul Technical University; 2015.
• 19. Wright JC. Dynamic Fracture toughness of soda- lime glass. [MSc Thesis]. [West Lafayette]: Purdue University; 2010.