Acoustic emission system and method for on-line measurement of glass break energy

A method for obtaining information related to scoring and breaking of a glass sheet, said method comprising the steps of:

• interfacing an acoustic emission (AE) sensor with a glass sheet;
• generating an AE signal when the AE sensor senses AE waveforms that are created while scoring and breaking the glass sheet;
• recording the AE signal;
• and
• processing the recorded AE signal to determine a glass break energy or another feature of the recorded AE signal.

A glass manufacturing system comprising:

• at least one vessel for melting batch materials and forming molten glass;
• a forming apparatus for receiving the molten glass and forming a glass sheet;
• a pulling machine for drawing the glass sheet;
• a first cutting machine for horizontally cutting and breaking the glass sheet;
• a first acoustic emission (AE) system comprising:
• a first AE sensor capable of interfacing with a glass sheet and capable of generating a first AE signal based on acoustic emission waveforms which are created while horizontally cutting and breaking the glass sheet;
• a data acquisition system capable of recording the first AE signal;
• and
• a processor capable of processing the recorded first AE signal to obtain a first glass break energy or another feature of the recorded first AE signal;
• a second cutting machine for vertically cutting and breaking the previously cut glass sheet;
• and
• a second AE system comprising:
• a second AE sensor capable of interfacing with the glass sheet and capable of generating a second AE signal based on acoustic emission waveforms which are created while vertically cutting and breaking the glass sheet;
• a data acquisition system capable of recording the second AE signal;
• and
• a processor capable of processing the recorded second AE signal to detect a second glass break energy or another feature of the recorded second AE signal.

A method for producing a glass sheet, said method comprising the steps of:

• melting batch materials to form molten glass;
• processing the molten glass to form the glass sheet;
• drawing the glass sheet;
• horizontally cutting and breaking the drawn glass sheet;
• using a first acoustic emission (AE) system which performs the following steps:
• interfacing a first AE sensor with the glass sheet;
• generating a first AE signal when the first AE sensor senses AE waveforms that are created while horizontally cutting and breaking the glass sheet;
• recording the first AE signal;
• and
• processing the recorded first AE signal to detect a first glass break energy or another feature in the first AE signal;
• vertically cutting and breaking the previously cut glass sheet;
• and
• using a second AE system which performs the following steps:
• interfacing a second AE sensor with the glass sheet;
• generating a second AE signal when the second AE sensor senses AE waveforms that are created while vertically cutting and breaking the glass sheet;
• recording the second AE signal;
• and
• processing the recorded second AE signal to detect a second glass break energy or another feature of the second AE signal.