Experimental study on critical breaking stress of float glass under elevated temperature

Cracking and subsequent fallout of glass may significantly affect fire dynamics in compartments. Moreover, the breaking tensile stress of glass, a crucial parameter for breakage occurrence, is the least well known among mechanical properties. In this work, a series of experiments were conducted, through mechanical tensile tests, to directly measure the breaking stress of float glass using Material Testing System 810 apparatus. Clear, ground and coated glass samples with a thickness of 6 mm were measured under ambient conditions, with a room temperature of 25 °C. The breaking stress of smooth glass samples was also measured at 75 °C, 100 °C, 125 °C, 150 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C and 400 °C, respectively. The results show that surface treatment may decrease the critical tensile stress of glass panes. The average breaking stress also fluctuates considerably, from 26.60 to 35.72 MPa with the temperature variations investigated here. At approximately 100 °C, critical stress reached the minimum value at which glass breakage occurs more easily. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficient was established using a thermal dilatometer, to obtain the maximum temperature difference float glass can withstand. It is intended that these results will provide some practical guidelines for fire safety engineers.