Self-Healing Properties of Soda-Lime Silicate Glass Under Thermal Treatment
Open Access
- Author:
- Ngo, Tran Ha
- Area of Honors:
- Chemical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Seong Han Kim, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Michael John Janik, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Glass Science
Soda-Lime Silicate
Glass Surface
Thermal Healing
Vickers Indentation
Glass Transition Temperature
Annealing - Abstract:
- Glass self-healing properties is of high interests in the materials science world. Success in self-healing designs would play an instrumental role in material safety, fatigue lifetime, and product performance. Many industrial applications, such as fuel cells and solid oxide electrolyzers, have been hindered by the lack of long-term durability and minimized glass healing understanding. Hence, the goal of this thesis is to explore the effects of thermal treatment temperatures, annealing conditions, and water pre-treatment on the self-healing ability of soda-lime silicate glass for a further comprehension on the different factors that drive the efficiency of thermal healing. The proposed thermal healing mechanism in glass is governed by critical morphological changes driven by viscous flow and capillary forces. The effects of thermal treatment temperature on glass healing could be understood via the inverse relationship between viscosity and temperature based on Fulcher’s equation, where soda-lime silicate glass thermally treated at lower glass transition temperature performed better in crack closure. Additionally, higher annealed temperature glass carried out better healing performance compared to lower annealed temperature glass. Water pre-treatment significantly enhanced necessary morphological alterations for thermal healing due to water-glass interaction and the reduced viscosity effects. Crack propagation and pinch-off healing mechanism were observed during the thermal treatment process.