4.3.3 Annealing
Over the course of two years, the PV staves all began to craze. This most
likely arose because once the light guides were glued onto a stave, pressure
was inevitably placed on the scintillator whenever it was moved or even when it
was in storage due to the weight of the light guides. In an attempt to slow the
crazing process, the staves were annealed in a warm water bath for a period of
several hours. The annealing of the staves was done in the summer of 1996 prior
to transporting the staves to PSI. The effects (if any) from undergoing this
process are not known since no staves were produced which were not annealed and
thus, no test comparing annealed and unannealed staves could be made.