Glass is a common material in the everyday life. It is widely used in a variety ofapplications e.g. architectural, automotive, containers, drinking vessels, displays,insulation and optical fibers due to its universal forming ability, transparency, chemicaldurability, form stability, hardness and relatively low price. Flat glass is a wide market ofthe glass industry and generally ninety percent of all flat glass produced worldwide ismanufactured using the float forming process. There is a large market strive for thinnerand stronger glass in order to reduce costs, save energy, reduce environmental footprint,find new applications and to improve the working environment for labour working withmounting flat glass.
This study comprises the modification of flat/float glass surface by a novel route;exchange of ionic species originating from in-line vapour deposition of salt compared tothe conventional route of immersing the glass in molten salt baths. The aim of this workis to develop a novel process in order to improve the mechanical strength of flat/floatglass by introducing external material to the surface in a process with the obviouspotential to be automatic in industrial processes. Chemical strengthening has beenperformed by applying potassium chloride to the glass surface by vapour deposition andthermally activated ion exchange. The method presented here is anticipated to be used inproduction in the future and would make it possible to produce larger quantities ofchemically strengthened flat glass to a considerably lower cost.