There is an increasing need for large flat panel display devices. PDP (Plasma Display Panel) is one of the most promising candidates for this need. Thermal shock failure of PDP glass during manufacturing process is a critical issue in PDP industry since it is closely related to the product yield and the production speed. In this study, thermal shock resistance of PDP glass is measured by water quenching test and an analysis scheme is described for estimating transient temperature and stress distributions during thermal shock. Based on the experimental data and the analysis results, a simple procedure for predicting the thermal shock failure of PDP glass is proposed. The fast cooling process for heated glass plates can accelerate the speed of PDP production, but often leads to thermal shock failure of the glass plates. Therefore, a design guideline for preventing the failure is presented from a viewpoint of high speed PDP manufacturing process. This design guideline can be used for PDP process design and thermal-shock failure prevention.
