Testing Cell Phone Screen Protectors

Poster/Exhibit Presentation
8:30-9:35 a.m. CDT on April 14, 2021

Screens on cell phones can crack or shatter very easily. They also can get scratched easily, and for these reasons, many people purchase screen protectors to try to keep their electronic screens intact. Screen protectors are usually a piece of tempered glass that adheres to the device like a sticker.

For this project, different kinds of cell phone screen protectors underwent various tests. Three different kinds of screen protectors were purchased. Two kinds were best-sellers that were highly rated on Amazon, and the third kind was a budget brand that was not highly rated. Each type that was purchased was also of different thickness, so that aspect was a factor. Various tests were performed on each of them including a Mohs hardness test, an impact test, and a drop test. A small-scale pendulum type impact tester was built to perform the impact tests. First, each type of screen protector underwent a hardness test using a Mohs hardness test kit. All the screen protectors failed at the same hardness level, so it can be concluded that they are all very similar hardness if not the same. Next, they underwent drop tests, and it was found that the thickest screen protector was the most difficult to break. Finally, they underwent impact tests, and it was found that the thickest screen protector required the most kinetic energy to fail. The thickest screen protector was highly rated, and while it performed the best in the impact and drop tests, it behaved very similarly to the other well-rated screen protector, and the low-rated screen protector performed the poorest.

Jubilee Horton, Isabel Cobb, Natalee Brake, Scott Newbolds, School of Engineering

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