A new experimental route in thermomechanics of inorganic glasses using infrared thermography

A theoretical approach based on thermomechanics of irreversible processes shows that the heat sources produced by a soda lime glass specimen under cyclic mechanical loading lead to temperature variations which can be detectable with a high resolution infrared camera. In order to validate this approach, experimental investigations are performed. For this purpose, a cyclic bending test is carried out and infrared measurements are performed. Temperature variations measured at the specimen surface are found to reach a few hundredths of a degree for a stress amplitude of the order of magnitude of 40 MPa. Results are in a good agreement with theoretical predictions. These thermal measurements are then used for thermoelastic stress analysis and heat source calculation. The study demonstrates that such an experimental approach based on infrared thermography will improve the understanding of the thermomechanical behavior of inorganic glasses.