Questions about silicone strength and construction method.

[AcroSteve]

When joining two pieces of glass at a right angle what is the optimal thickness of the silicone between them? My Oceanic is about .035, but my Perfecto is about .060. So is one stronger than the other?



Does the fillet on the inside of the tank contribute very much to the overall strength of the joint? I have seen some high end tanks with no internal fillet - Elos for example.



I am planning on a wavebox so there will be a lot of stress on the end panels. I wonder if the way that nearly all commercial tanks are made is the best, or just the most convenient. That being with the shorter end panels set inside of the longer panels.

So... is the silicone stronger in shear or tension?

Most likely, I will be using RTV103 or RTV108, unless I can find a source for something better.

[AcroSteve]

Well, I turned up some info.

Looks like silicone is stronger in tension than in shear - twice as strong. However, the adhesion value was about 1/8 the tension.

And, the RTV100 series is stronger than IS800. IS800 was referred to as something that the Pro's use. However, the source is unknown.


One thing I did notice is that they do not recommend applications thicker than 1/4". My glass will be 3/4 - so that will exceed the recommendations by 1/8"

What about that?
Surely someone knows what they use at Aquarium Obsessed or others.