Spontaneous glass fracture analysis
Spontaneous glass fractures in high-rise buildings are unpredictable and have a dramatic impact on the safety of building occupants and people on the street below. These failures can have a number of possible causes including poor edge quality, frame-related breakage, thermal stress, and nickel sulphide inclusions. UQ Materials Performance has investigated several such failures using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to characterise any inclusions that may have caused the fracture. This has allowed glass manufacturers and builders determine the burden of liability and whether batches of glass panels already in service are susceptibility to future spontaneous fractures.