Chemical Strengthening of LAS Glass-Ceramics for Thinner and Stronger
Automobile Glasses
Gamze KARAKEDI, Ali Coskun ATLAS and Emrah DOLEKCEKİC
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey
Abstract:
Automotive industry is a very strong sector in terms of internal volume, employment,
and economy and it affects many sectors. However, atmospheric pollutant emission
and the amount of carbon dioxide gas increase due to the increasing number of
automobiles; hence, this leads to problems like the greenhouse effect and the climate
change. Furthermore, due to the reduction of fossil fuels, automobile producers are in
search of automobile design working on different energy sources. Electric vehicles
are the most preferred in alternative energy applications because of their eco-friendly
behaviors and economical benefits. It is known that the weight of electric automobiles
should be as less as possible comparing with commercial fuel oil cars due to the
necessity of less energy consumption. For that reason, chemical strengthening
methods can be applied to produce more durable and slimmer automobile glasses.
In this study, Li2O-Al2O3-SiO2 (LAS) glass- ceramics were used for chemical
strengthening process, because, they are usually three times more stronger than
commercially available soda-lime-silicate glasses. Chemically strengthened lithium
alumina silicate glass-ceramics were characterized by scanning electron microscopy
(SEM), four point bending and microhardness tests. Four point bending test results
revealed that chemically strengthened LAS glass- ceramics have nearly 4 times higher
strength values then commercially available automobile glasses.
Keywords: Chemical strengthening, Lithium Alumino Silicate Glass- Ceramics,
Automobile glasses