Stress corrosion of a low-temperature solder glass

The stress corrosion of a typical low-temperature, high-lead vitreous solder glass suitable for sealing TV tubes and other displays was investigated in terms of static, dynamic and button tests. The button tests, which take into account the effects of interactions that occur between various glasses during fabrication of the display assembly, have been found to be extremely useful in selecting sealing glasses for the application, in estimating seal life during product service and in determining the acceleration factors for pretesting the seal prior to use in the field. The time-to-failure of the seal was found to be highly thickness dependent, and, for a given thickness, humidity had a much more pronounced effect than temperature.