PREVENTION OF CRACK PROPAGATION IN BRITTLE MATERIALS

摘要

A method for preventing crack propagation in an object made of brittle material, comprising the steps of heating a selected region 2 of the object to induce plastic deformation without significantly melting or ablating the material, and cooling the selected region 2 sufficiently fast to retain the deformation. The heating and cooling of selected regions in an object made of a brittle material so that it deforms and does not return to its original shape upon cooling changes the internal stress in the material. If the new internal stress field is such that there is compressive stress perpendicular to the direction of crack propagation, there is less probability that a crack 5 will propagate, and less probability that the object will break. The invention also concerns an apparatus for performing the method.