Vickers crack extension and residual fracture strength of annealed and thermally tempered glass in water

The effect of water contact on the propagation of microscale surface cracks is investigated in two types of glass: annealed and tempered glass. Initial flaw is artificially created on the glass surface using a Vickers indenter, and is covered with a water droplet for 20 min. Micrographs of the flaw taken before and after water contact confirms the increase in crack length from around 61 to 103 µm for thermally tempered glass. After water dipping, the maximum length to which the crack growth is approximately 57% smaller in the thermally tempered glass than in the annealed glass. Despite the severe effect of water contact on crack propagation, it is found that the fracture strength is not substantially altered by water dipping; even though the crack length is enlarged, the fracture strength of glass is similar, and in the case of tempered glass, its fracture strength is slightly changed within 7% due to the blunting of the crack tip by water or others.