Glass Properties, Composition & Uses

Glass Properties, Composition & Uses
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~ Glass Properties, Composition & Uses ~

Once published by British Glass Ltd. on the britglass.co.uk
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SSRsi Note: The spelling is British. I'll get around to Americanizing it one of these days....
Making Glass
Product
Specific Qualities
Glass Containers
Bottles & Jars
Relatively cheap when mass

produced.
Resistant to mechanical shock,
capable of being filled at very
fast rates.
Some bottling plants fill in
excess of 1000 bottles per
minute.
Can be re-used and recycled.
Can be sterilized at high
temperatures.
inert, do not impart taste or toxic
substances.
Method of Manufacture
Typical Formula
Soda-lime silica
Approximate composition:
%
SiO2
Automatically blown at
high speeds.
74
Na2O
14
CaO
11
Al2O3
Soda-lime silica
Flat Glass
Domestic Glassware
for everyday use in
home and catering
1.
2.
3.
4.
Relatively cheap.
Can be toughened. Float process. Cast and
Weather resistant.
rolled.
Can be coated.
1. Pleasant
appearance.
2. Ability to stand up
to constant use.
3. Does not affect
contents
SiO2
71
Na2O
16
CaO
Al2O3
MgO
Soda-lime silica
%
%
Mouth blown, pressed or

SiO2 74 Al2O3 3
fully automatic mass
Na2O 16 K2O 1
produced.
CaO 5 B2O3 1
MgO 3
Soda-lime silica
Extrusion and casting
can be ground and
Radiation Shielding High density to absorb radiation.
polished to optical
precision.
%
SiO2
PbO
K2O
Soda-lime silica
Borosilicate
Thermal stability over a wide
Thermometer Tubing temperature range, retaining
transparency.
Automatic or hand
drawing.
Lead glass
Depending on temperature
range required
Laboratory
Glassware
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High chemical durability.

Low thermal expansion.
Lampworking (made
Mainly Borosilicate or fused
from tubing by heating
silica for extra low expansion
and skilful manipulation).
coefficient
9/14/12 11:28 AM
Mouth and automatic

blowing.
Sintering.
Full Lead Crystal

Domestic Glassware
Heat Resistant Oven

to Table Ware
Optical Glass
Electrical
Components:
cathode-ray tubes,
capacitors and
resistors, computer
components, printed
circuits
1. Extra suitable for

artistic hand
shaping and mouth
blowing.
2. Brilliant finish,
Hand made by skilled
attractive when full craftsmen.
or empty.
3. Comparatively soft easy to cut and
polish or engrave.
1. Resistant to thermal
shock.
2. Attractive.
Automatically pressed or
3. Easy to clean.
blown.
4. Can be used in
microwave ovens.
1. Wide range of
refractive indices.
2. Wide range of
dispersion
coefficients.
3. Perfect
homogeneity.
4. Complete
transparency.
Lead glass
%
SiO2
PbO
K2O
Borosilicate glass
Approximate
composition:
%
SiO2
80 Na2O 4.5
B2O3
12 Al2O3 5
Extrusion and pressing,

While range of compositions
then ground and
Depends on application
polishing.
Blowing.
Drawing - in rod form
and in sheets.
Good dielectric properties.

Low electrical losses over a wide
Sintering and Pressing range of temperatures.
glass is ground to fine
grains and then is
High operating temperatures.
subsequently pressed
into required shape and
then fired.
Wide range of compositions
Resistant to normal temperature

changes. Resistant to
atmospheric conditions.
Glass Building
Blocks
Mechanical strength.
Automatic pressing
- pressed in halves and
then fused together
Soda-lime silica glass

Similar to flat glass
Attractive.
Translucent.
flame drawing
- velocity of flames
Ballotini: minute glass
draws particles of glass
High reflective properties: mixed
spheres (1-60
up tower and as the
with paint for road signs and
microns) which reflect
softened glass falls on
cinema screens.
light
the outside, spheres are
formed by surface
tension effects.
Glass Fibre
High strength-to-weight ratio.

Resistant to attack by corrosive
substances.
Filament drawing.
Continuous filament.

Similar to flat glass
White wool.
Soda lime silica and where

resistance to weathering is
necessary, a borosilicate glass is
used, e.g.
Crown process.
Resistant to high temperature.
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Flame resistant.
High electrical resistance.
Economical to produce.
Easy to manufacture by mass
production methods.
Resistant to shock.
Lighting Glassware
1. Electric Light Bulbs Impermeable and inert to gas,
vapor and liquid.
Durable.
%
%
Can be woven into
SiO
B
O
2 54.5 2 3 8.3
textiles or incorporated
with plastics to form
Al2O3 14.5 Na2O 0.5
insulating materials, boat CaO 22.0
hulls, car bodies, etc.
Ribbon Machine
- produces bulb at the
rate of over 1,000 per
minute.
Blanks used in the
manufacture of vacuum
flasks are also produced
by this machine
Soda lime silica glass

%
SiO2
72.5
Al2O3
1.3
CaO
6.5
MgO
3.0
Na2O
15.9
K2O
0.3
Transparent or translucent.
2. Special Glasses Low electrical conductivity.
(a) High pressure
Resistance to intense chemical
mercury vapor lamps activity of mercury vapor.
(b) Aircraft fire-warning
sensors
Low melting point.
(c) Glass for

encapsulating electric
components
High electricity conductivity.
Special glasses can be

formed by using
manufacturing
processes, or, in some
cases, laminated onto
ordinary glasses
i.e. sodium discharge
lamps.
Low electrical conductivity.

Resistance to intense chemical
activity.
Electrical discharge generates
UV light which then causes
3. Tubing for
fluorescent powder to emit
fluorescent lighting visible light.
Wide range of compositions
Soda lime silica glass

%
Automatic Drawing
SiO2
72.5
Al2O3
2.6
CaO
5.7
MgO
2.9
Na2O
High efficiency.
K2O
Long life: 3,000 - 5,000 hours,

i.e. about one year of continuous
use.
4. Domestic and
industrial shades
and bulkhead lights:
inc. lenses for traffic
lights, car lights and
railway signal lights
Resistant to high temperature.

Resistant to thermal shock.
Resistant to weathering.
Accurate and non fading color:
subject to strict BS
specifications.
B2O3
Mouth blowing.
Hand and automatic
pressing - depending on
quantities required.
14.6
1.2
0.3
1. Soda-lime silica
glass
2. Laminated with
opal glass
3. Borosilicate glasses
and opal glasses
WHAT IS GLASS?
Glass is a product obtained by the fusion of several inorganic substances, of which normally silica (SiO2) in the form
of sand is the main one. The fused mass is cooled to ambient temperature at a rate fast enough to prevent
crystallization, i.e., the molecules cannot arrange themselves into a crystalline pattern. The fast rate of cooling to
prevent crystallization applies to transparent glasses, whereas in the case of translucent or opal glasses, the rate of
cooling is such as to produce a pre-determined level of Crystal formation.
TYPES OF GLASSES
A large variety of glass with different chemical and physical properties can be made by a suitable adjustment to
chemical compositions. Further sections of this booklet deal with various glasses, including crystal and optical
glasses of high refractive index and high lead content.
Commercial Glasses
The main constituent of practically all commercial glasses is sand. Sand by itself can be fused to produce glass but
the temperature at which this can be achieved is about 1700oC. Adding other chemicals to sand can considerably
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reduce the temperature of fusion. The addition of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), known as soda ash, in a quantity to
produce a fused mixture of 75% silica (SiO2) and 25% of sodium oxide (Na2O), will reduce the temperature of fusion
to about 800oC. However, a glass of this composition is water soluble and is known as water glass. In order to give
the glass stability, other chemicals like calcium oxide (CaO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) are needed. The raw
materials used for introducing CaO and MgO are their carbonates CaCO3 (limestone) and MgCO3 (dolomite), which
when subjected to high temperatures give off carbon dioxide leaving the oxides in the glass.
Most commercial glasses whether for containers, i.e. bottles and jars, flat glass for windows or for drinking glasses,
have somewhat similar chemical compositions of:
70% - 74%
SiO2
(silica)
12% - 16%
Na2O
(sodium oxide)
5% - 11%
CaO
(calcium oxide)
1% - 3%
MgO
(magnesium oxide)
1% - 3%
Al2O3
(aluminum oxide)
Within these very wide limits the composition is varied to suit a particular products and production method. The raw
materials are carefully weighed and thoroughly mixed, as consistency of composition is of utmost importance. To the
mixture of chemicals a further raw materials added - broken glass, called cullet. Cullet can come from factory rejects,
it can be collected by the public in Bottle Banks or from the bottling industry. Almost any proportion of cullet can be
added to the mix (known as batch), provided it is in the right condition, and green glass made from batch containing
95% of cullet is by no means uncommon. Although the glass collected by Bottle Banks may come from several
manufacturer, it can be used by one of them, as container glass compositions have been harmonized to make this
possible. It is, however, important that glass colors are not mixed and that the cullet is free from impurities, especially
metals and ceramics.
Flat glass is similar in composition to container glass except that it contains a higher proportion of magnesium oxide.
Other types of glasses
Glasses vary widely in their chemical make-up; indeed, there are very few element in the periodic table that have not
been incorporated in a glass of some kind. However, most of the glasses produced commercially on a large scale
may be classified into three main groups: soda-lime, lead and borosilicate, of which the first is by far the most
common.
Soda-lime glasses
These are the most common commercial glasses and have been described in the previous chapter. The chemical
and physical properties of soda-lime glasses make them suitable for a visible light and hence applications. The
nominally colorless types transmit a very high percentage of visible light and hence have been used for windows
since at least the time of the Romans. Soda-lime glass containers are virtually inert, and so cannot contaminate the
contents inside or affect the taste. Their resistance to chemical attack from aqueous solutions is good enough to
withstand repeated boiling(as in the case of preserving jars) without any significant changes in the glass surface.
One of the main disadvantages of soda-lime is their relatively high thermal expansion. Silica does not expand very
greatly when heated but the addition of soda has a dramatic effect in increasing the expansion rate and, in general,
the higher the soda content of a glass, the poorer will be its resistance to sudden changes of temperature (thermal
shock). Thus, care is needed when soda-lime containers are filled with hot liquids to prevent breakages due to rapid
thermal expansion.
Lead glasses
The use of lead oxide instead of calcium oxide, and of potassium oxide instead of all or most of the sodium oxide,
gives the type of glass commonly known as lead crystal. The traditional English full lead crystal contains at least 30%
lead oxide (PbO) but any glass containing at least 24% PbO can be legitimately described as lead crystal according
to the relevant EEC directive. Glasses of the same type, but containing less than 24% PbO, are known simply as
crystal glasses, some or all of the lead being replaced in these compositions by varying amounts of the oxides of
barium, zinc and potassium. Lead glasses have a high refractive index and relatively soft surface so that they are
easy to decorate by grinding, cutting, engraving. The overall effect of cut crystal is the brilliance of the two.
Glasses with even higher lead oxide contents (typically 65%) may be used as radiation shielding glasses because f
the well-known ability of lead to absorb gamma rays and other forms of harmful radiation.
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Borosilicate glasses
As the name implies, borosilicate glasses, the third major group, are composed mainly of silica (70-80%) and boric
oxide (7-13%) with smaller amounts of the alkalis (sodium and potassium oxides) and aluminum oxide. They are
characterized by the relatively low alkali content and consequently have good chemical durability and thermal shock
resistance. Thus they are permanently suitable for process plants in the chemical industry, for laboratory apparatus,
for ampoules and other pharmaceutical containers, for various high intensity lighting applications and as glass fibers
for textile and plastic reinforcement. In the home they are familiar in the form of ovenware and other heat-resisting
ware, possibly better known under the trade name of the first glass of this type to be placed on the consumer marketPyrex.
Special glasses
Glasses with specific properties may be devised to meet almost any imaginable requirement, the main restriction
normally being the commercial considerations, i.e., whether the potential market is large enough to justify the
development and manufacturing costs. For many specialized applications in chemistry, pharmacy, the electrical and
electronics industries, optics, the construction and lighting industries, glass, or the comparatively new family of
materials known as glass ceramics, may be the only practical material for the engineer to use.
Vitreous silica
As mentioned previously, silica glass or vitreous silica is of considerable technical importance. However, the fact that
temperature above 1500oC are necessary in the melting makes the transparent variety (often known as fused quartz
or quartz glass) expensive and difficult to produce. The less expensive alternative for many applications is fused
silica, which is melted at somewhat lower temperatures; in this case small gas bubbles remain in the final product
which is therefore not transparent.
Another substitute for vitreous silica can be produced by melting a suitable borosilicate glass and then heating it at
around 600oC until it separates into two phases. The alkali-borate phase may be leached out with acids, leaving a
96% silica phase with open pores of controllable size which can be converted into clear glass. Porous glasses of this
kind, commonly known as Vycor, from the first commercial version produced by Corning Glass Works Ltd, may be
used as membranes for filtration purposes and for certain biological applications.
Aluminosilicate glasses
A small, but important group of glasses is that known as aluminosilicate, containing some 20% aluminum oxide
(alumina-Al2O3) often including calcium oxide, magnesium oxide and boric oxide in relatively small amounts, but
with only very small amounts of soda or potash. They tend to require higher melting temperatures than borosilicate
glasses and are difficult to work, but have the merit of being able to withstand high temperatures and having good
resistance to thermal shock. Typical applications include combustion tubes, gauge glasses for high pressure steam
boilers, and in halogen-tungsten lamps capable of operating at temperature as high as 750oC.
Alkali-barium silicate glasses
In normal operation, a television produces X-rays which need to be absorbed by the various glass components. This
protection is afforded by glasses with minimum amounts of heavy oxides (lead, barium or strontium). Lead glasses
are commonly used for the funnel and neck of the tube, while glasses containing barium are usually employed for the
face or panel.
Borate glasses
There is a range of glasses, containing little or no silica, that can be used for soldering glasses, metals or ceramics at
relatively low temperatures. When used to solder other glasses, the solder glass needs to be fluid at temperatures
(450o - 550oC) well below that at which the glass to be sealed will deform.
Some solder glasses do not crystallize or denitrify during the soldering process and thus the mating surfaces can be
reset or separated; these are usually lead borate glasses containing 60-90% PbO with relatively small amounts of
silica and alumina to improve the chemical durability. Another group consists of glasses that are converted partly into
crystalline materials when the soldering temperature is reached, in which case the joints can be separated only by
dissolving the layer of solder by chemical means. Such denitrifying solder glasses are characterized by continuing up
to about 25% zinc oxide.
Glasses of a slightly different composition (zinc-silicoborate glasses) may also be used for protecting silicon
semi-conductor components against chemical attack and mechanical damage. Such glasses must contain no alkalis
(which can influence the semi-conducting properties of the silicon) and should be compatible with silicon in terms of
thermal expansion. These materials, known as passivation glasses, have assumed considerable importance with the
progress made in microelectronics technology in recent years that has made the concept of the "silicon chip" familiar
to all.
Phosphate glasses
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Most types of glass are good insulators at room temperature, although those with a substantial alkali content may
well be good conductors in the molten state. This is because the conductivity depends mainly on the ability of the
alkali ions in the glass to migrate in an electric field. However, some glasses that do not contain alkalis conduct
electrons which jump from one ion to another. These are known as semi-conducing oxide glasses and are used
particularly in the construction of secondary electron multipliers. Typically they consist of mixtures of vanadium
pentoxide (V2O5) and phosphorous pentoxide (P2O5).
Chalcogenide glasses
Similar semi conductor effects are also characteristic of a series of glasses which can be made without the presence
of oxygen (non-oxide glasses). These may be composed of one or more elements of the sulphur group in the
Periodic Table (called chalcogens, from the Greek word for sulphur) combined with arsenic, antimony, germanium
and/or the halide (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine). Some of them have potential use as infra-red transmitting
materials and as switching devices in computer memories because their conductivity changes abruptly when
particular threshold voltage values are exceeded, but most have extremely low softening points and much poorer
chemical durability than more conventional glasses.
Glass Ceramics
An essential feature of glass structure is that it does not contain crystals. However, by deliberately stimulating crystal
growth in appropriate glasses it is possible to produce a range of materials with a controlled amount of crystallization
so that they can combine many of the best features of ceramics and glass. Some of these "glass ceramics" formed
typically from lithium aluminosilicate glasses, are extremely resistant to thermal stock and have found several
applications where this property if important, including cooker hobs, cooking ware, windows for gas or coal fires,
mirror substrates for astronomical telescopes and missile nose cones.
Some special applications of glass
Different forms and varieties of glass are used in almost every conceivable aspect of human life. Architecture, food
and drink, laboratory equipment, instrumentation, the chemical, nuclear and electrical industries, lighting, optics - the
list is endless. For some areas of application, one type of glass predominates: for example, soda-lime glass is used
almost universally in the building and packaging industries while borosilicate tends to be standard in the chemical
processing industry. However, for some purposes a wide range of glasses is required to meet different requirements,
as is the case with optical glass, glasses for sealing to metals and glass fibers.
Optical glasses
Glasses can be designed to meet almost any specified combination of optical properties of which the most important
are the refractive index (representing the deviation of a ray of light striking the glass at an oblique angle) and the
dispersion (the dependence of the refractive index on wavelength).
Glasses with high dispersion relative to refractive index are called flint glasses while those with relatively low
dispersions are called crown glasses. Typically flint glasses are lead-alkali-silicate compositions whereas crown
glasses are soda-lime glasses.
The substitution of other oxides permits considerable variations to be achieved. Thus barium crown (barium
borosilicate), barium flint (barium lead silicate), borosilicate crown (sodium borosilicate) and crown flint (calcium
lead-silicate) are all widely used. Phosphorous and the rare earths, especially lanthanum, may also be valuable
ingredients in some optical glass compositions. The inclusion of transition elements (copper, titanium, vanadium,
chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt or nickel) in glass produces strong absorption bands in the ultra violet part of the
spectrum as well as broad bands in the visible and infra-red, enabling a series of color filters and glasses with
modified transmission properties in the ultra-violet and infra-red to be produced.
The use of rare earth's has less effect on color but it is of particular significance in the manufacture of laser glasses,
most of which contain neodymium. The neodymium ions in the glass, when stimulated, emit radiation at a particular
wavelength (1.06um) and this is transformed into high-intensity coherent optical data, and for various measurement
functions in industry.
A characteristic of some optical glasses is that when they are exposed to ultraviolet or short-wave infra-red radiation
(as with sunlight) they become dark, but when removed from such exposure they revert to their original state. These,
known as photochromic glasses, include in their composition silver halide crystals produced by adding silver salts
and compounds of fluoride, chlorine or bromine (the halides) to the base-glass (normally borosilicate). Controlled
thermal treatment during and after melting causes extremely small phase separations to occur and these are
responsible for the reversible darkening effect.
Sealing glasses
Another application for which a large variety of glass compositions is used is sealing to metals for electrical and
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electronic components. Here the available glasses may be grouped according to their thermal expansion which must
be matched with the thermal expansions of the respective metals so that sealing is possible without excessive strain
being induced by the expansion differences.
For sealing to tungsten, in making incandescent and discharge lamps, borosilicate alkaline earths-aluminous silicate
glasses are suitable. Sodium borosilicate glasses may be used for sealing to molybdenum and the iron-nickel-cobalt
(Fernico) alloys are frequently employed as a substitute, the amount of sodium oxide permissible depending on the
degree of electrical resistance required. With glasses designed to seal to Kovar alloy, relatively high contents of boric
oxide (approximately 20%) are needed to keep the transformation temperature low and usually the preferred alkali is
potassium oxide so as to ensure high electrical insulation.
Where the requirement for electrical insulation is paramount, as in many types of vacuum tube and for the
encapsulation of diodes, a variety of lead glasses (typical containing between 30% and 60% lead oxide) can be
used.
COLOURS
Unless the raw materials are very pure, glass made by mixing and heating sand, soda ash and limestone will
normally be green, the depth of the colorants present in the raw materials. a sand containing as little as
one-thousandth part of iron oxide will give normal soda-lime glass, used for windows and glass containers, a
greenish tint.
For many products, instead of using high purity (and thus expensive) raw materials, glass manufacturers may
decolorize the glass by adding minute amounts of other colorants which produce complementary colors to green so
that the finished articles appear colorless. Thus selenium (which gives a pink color) and cobalt (which gives blue) can
be added to soda-lime glass to offset the effect of the green or yellow due to the iron and this is done in the
manufacture of glass containers. Nickel may be used similarly in the decolorizing of lead crystal glass.
Different additions may produce different colored glasses, the range of possible colors being almost infinite. Some of
the most frequently used colorants and the colors they produce are listed below. The color depends on the state of
oxidation of the colorant, the type of glass in which it is used, and thermal treatment.
COLORANT
GLASS COLOUR/S
Iron
Green, brown, blue
Manganese
Purple
Chromium
Green, yellow, pink
Vanadium
Green, blue, grey
Copper
Blue, green, red
Cobalt
Blue, green, pink
Nickel
Yellow, purple
Uranium
Yellow, brown, green
Titanium
Purple, brown
Neodymium
Purple
Praseodymium
Green
Cerium
Yellow
Carbon & Sulphur
Amber, brown
Cadmium Sulphide
Yellow
Antimony Sulphide
Red
Selenium
Pink, red
Gold
Red
The use of large amounts of several different colorants will tend to produce black glasses. Opaque or opal glasses
can be produced by the addition of appropriate amounts of fluoride or phosphate compounds, which produce crystal
growth, known in the glass industry as devitirification.
GLASS MELTING FURNACES
There are two types of glass melting furnaces.
1. Pot Furnaces are structures built of refractory materials in which there is no contact between the furnace and the
glass. Glass is melted in several pots made of refractory materials which are resistant to glass attack at high
temperatures. The pots are charged with a batch, which is melted over a number of hours and worked on a 24 or 18
hour cycle. An average pot can hold 600-700 Kg of glass. Pot furnaces are used where the glass is formed by hand
and mouth blowing. One of the main advantages of this system is that several types of glasses can be melted at the
same time. A pot can be used for about 30 melting cycles and thus produce between 18 and 21 tons of glass.
Fuel economy is normally achieved by recuperation, i.e., the pre-heating of combustion air by waste heat from the
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furnace exhaust gases. In this system the pre-heating of the combustion air is done by passing the air through metal
tubes on the outside of which the exhaust gases flow towards the chimney. Thus the heat exchange is continuous.
Electricity can also be used for melting.
2. Tank Furnaces are used where continuous flow of glass is needed to feed automatic glass forming machines.
They are more economical in their use of fuel and are used mainly for the large scale production of containers, flat
glass, electric bulbs, tubing and domestic machine made tableware. A large float glass furnace can have a capacity
of 2,000 tons.
A tank furnace consists of a bath, built of a very special high refractory material, which can resist chemical attack of
molten glass at temperatures in excess of 1500oC and a superstructure where combustion takes place. The quality
of refractory materials, used for building the bath, has improved to such an extent that whereas some 30 years ago,
the life of a furnace was well below 2 years, it is now over 9 years.
In order to achieve high melting temperatures and fuel economy, a regenerative or recuperative system is used. Both
these systems utilize the waste heat of combustion for pre-heating the incoming combustion air.
While in the recuperative system the heat exchange between the combustion air and waste gases is continuous, in
the regenerative system the waste gases are passed through a large chamber packed with refractory bricks
arranged in a pattern which permits free flow of the gases. The brickwork is heated by the waste gases and after
having been heated for some 20 minutes, the direction of firing is reversed. Combustion air is passed through the
chamber and the heat thus collected in the brickwork is used for pre-heating the combustion air. The firing is thus
from right to left, normally for 20 minutes, during which time the right hand generator is heated and so there is a
reversal of firing every 20 minutes. The cycle time can be changed for best heat exchange results and modern
furnaces have computer managed control systems, which adjust the time of firing in each direction to achieve the
best heat exchange conditions.
Heavy fuel oil or natural gas is normally used for firing tank furnaces. Glass, being an electrical conductor at high
temperature, can also be melted by electricity. However, electricity is far too expensive in the UK and is normally
used to boost the output from a gas or oil fired furnace. Nevertheless, technological progress in electric melting has
enabled the use of all electric glass melting furnaces even at the high cost of electricity.
GLASS FORMING PROCESSES
Like treacle and pitch, glass is fluid at high temperature and its fluidity decreases at the temperature is reduced. In
other words its viscosity decreases as the temperature increases. Unlike water, which turns from liquid to a solid at a
specific temperature, glass has no specific melting or freezing point but is gradually changed from a stiff solid to a
liquid mass as the temperature is increased. It is this property of variable viscosity which is utilized in forming a mass
of glass into articles of beauty or utility.
Glass Blowing
For nearly 2,000 years mouth blowing was the main method of forming glass articles. The last few years of the 19th
century saw the beginnings of blowing glass by compressed air and the 20th century brought in the revolution of
mechanization.
For mouth blowing, a hollow blowing-iron or pipe is dipped into a pot containing molten glass and the glass is
gathered at the end of the pipe by rotating it, similarly to gathering treacle onto a spoon. The collected glass, known
as the gather, cools to about 1000oC and is marvered (rolled on an iron slab) to form a parison. The parison is then
manipulated by allowing it to elongate, re-heating it and blowing air into it to bring it into a shape which resembles the
final article to be formed. It is then placed in an iron or wooden mould, which is kept wet by water, and the glass is
blown to the final shape of the interior of the mould. There is no contact between the glass and the mould, due to the
water being present, a cushion of steam forms a barrier preventing this. During the blowing the pipe is rotated
continuously, thus preventing mould joints or other mould imperfections appearing in the glass.
Semi Automatic Bottle Making
Until the second half of the 19th century bottles were made by hand gathering, mouth blowing and finishing the neck,
which was to receive a closure, by manual manipulation with simple tools. The mouth of the bottle, being made last,
was known as the "finish".
No way was discovered of imitating this process by semi-mechanical or mechanical means until it was realized that
the only way was to make the "finish" first.
The glass is thus gathered on a solid rod and is allowed to flow into a parison mould until sufficient glass is judged to
have entered the mould. It is then cut off by means of hand shears. At the bottom of the parison mould is the "finish"
with a plunger, which forms the opening into which compressed air is blown. A puff of compressed air blows the glass
upwards against the sides of the parison mould and a plate at its top. Thus a parison, which is a thick walled bottle
vaguely resembling the final product, is formed. The parison is removed from the mould and by absence of contact
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with the iron, the heat from the outer surface is no longer conducted away and the parison surface is re-heated. It is
then transferred to the final mould and blown again and the parison surface is re-heated. It is then transferred to the
final mould and blown again by compressed air to its final shape. The mould is opened, the bottle is removed and
placed in a re-heating tunnel, called a lehr, for annealing.
Semi-automatic bottle making has practically disappeared in the developed countries and has been replaced by fully
automatic production.
Making Glass Container by Semi-Automatic Process
[Picture Missing]
The gob is gathered by hand on an iron, and the correct amount of glass is dropped into a preliminary mould.
Compressed air is introduced to form the neck of the article. The embryo shape (parison) is then transferred to the
finishing mould in which the final shape is blown.
Automatic Container Production
The principle of automatic production is exactly the same as that previously described, except that instead of
gathering the glass on an iron rod and allowing it to flow into the parison mould, gobs of glass of pre-determined
shape and weight are formed above the parison mould and are allowed to drop into it.
Making Glass Containers by Automatic Process
The Press and Blow Process

[Picture Missing]
The Blow and Blow Process
The machine which has almost replaced all others is the IS machine. It is not certain whether "IS" denotes its
inventors, Ingle and Smith, or its main characteristic which is independent synchronized units with a synchronized
gob distribution system each section.
It can consist of several sections and 10 section machines are by no means uncommon. The machine can operate
on blow and blow or press and blow principle and double gob production, i.e. delivery of two gobs of glass at the
same time is quite common. Triple gob machines are also in existence. The machine is capable of producing more
than 200 containers per minute.
Flat Glass
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The main flat glass products are float glass for high quality glazing in homes, offices, hotels, shops, transport and
public buildings glass for horticulture: wired glasses for fire resistance; patterned glass for privacy and decoration;
and a wide range of glasses for environmental control and energy conservation.
Other flat glass products include toughened glass doors, suspended window assemblies, cladding glasses for the
exterior of buildings, mirrors and diffuse reflection glass for reducing reflection on glazed pictures and instrument
dials.
The two manufacturing processes for producing flat glass in the UK are the float glass process and the rolled
process.
The Float Glass Process
The float glass process, invented by Pilkington Brothers PLC and introduced in 1959, is now the principal method of
producing flat glass throughout the world.
The glass is held in a chemically controlled atmosphere at a high enough temperature (1000 C) for a long enough
time for irregularities to melt out and for the surfaces to become flat and parallel. Because the surface of the molten
tin is flat the glass becomes flat and the thickness of the ribbon, in the range 2.5 to 25mm, is controlled at this stage.
The ribbon is cooled down while still advancing along the molten tin until the surfaces are hard enough (600 C) for it
to be lifted onto the conveyor rollers without marking the bottom surface. The ribbon passes through the annealing
lehr to the automatic warehouse where computers govern the cutting of the ribbon to match customer's orders. A
large modern float glass plant will produce 5000 tons of glass per week. It operates continuously 24 hours a day, 365
days a year for several years. The glass produced has a uniform thickness and bright fire-polished surfaces without
the need for grinding and polishing.
The Rolled Glass Process
The rolling process is used for the manufacture of patterned flat glass and wired glass. A continuous stream of
molten glass is poured between water cooled rollers.
Patterned glass is made in a single pass process in which glass flows to the rollers at a temperature of about 1050
C. The bottom cast iron or stainless steel roller is engraved with the negative of the pattern; the top roller is smooth.
Thickness is controlled by adjustment of the gap between the rollers. The ribbon leaves the rollers at about 850 C
and is supported over a series of water cooled steel rollers to the annealing lehr. After annealing the glass is cut to
size.
Wired glass is made in a double pass process. The process uses two independently driven pairs of water cooled
forming rollers each fed with a separate flow of molten glass from a common melting furnace. The first pair of rollers
produces a continuous ribbon of glass, half the thickness of the end product. This is overlaid with a wire mesh. A
second feed of glass, to give a ribbon the same thickness as the first, is then added and, with the wire mesh
"sandwiched", the ribbon passes through the second pair of rollers which form the final ribbon of wired glass. After
annealing, the ribbon is cut by special cutting and snapping arrangements.
Glass Fibers
Glass in the form of fibers has found wide and varied applications in all kinds of industry. Its composition depends on
the intended use.
For building insulation and glass wool the type of glass used is normally soda-lime. For textiles, an aluminoborosilicate glass with very low sodium oxide content (E glass) is preferred because of its good chemical durability
and high softening point. This is also the type of composition employed for the fibers used in the reinforcement of
plastics, familiar for their application in protective helmets, boats, piping, car chassis and many other articles.
In recent years, great progress has been made in making optical fibers which can guide light and thus transmit
images round corners. These fibers are applicable to endoscopes for examination of internal human organs,
changeable traffic message signs now in common use on motorways for speed restriction warnings and
communications technology for transmitting telephone conversations much more efficiently than copper cable.
There are two broad groups of glass fiber products: continuous glass fiber which is used for the reinforcement of
plastics, rubber and cement; and glass wool, which is used for thermal insulation and which is produced by the
Crown process.
Glass Fiber Manufacture
Continuous glass fiber is a continuous strand, made up of a large number of individual filaments of glass.
Molten glass is fed from the furnace or "tank" through a channel or "forehearth" to a series of bushings which contain
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over one thousand six hundred accurately dimensioned holes or "forming tips" in its base.
A constant head of glass is maintained in the tank and forehearth and the temperature of the glass in the bushings is
controlled to very fine limits. Fine filaments of glass are drawn mechanically downwards from the bushing tips at a
speed of several thousand meters per minute, giving a filament diameter which may be as small as nine microns, or
one tenth the diameter of a human hair. From the bushing the filaments run to a common collecting point where size
is applied and they are subsequently brought together as bundles, or "strands", on a high speed winder.
Glass fiber is produced in a range of filament diameters and strand dimensions to tight tolerances for different end
uses. It is used to strengthen and stiffen thermosetting plastics, thermoplastics, nylon and polypropylene as well as
inorganic matrices, such as gypsum.
Glass Wool Manufacture
Glass wool is made in the Crown process. From the forehearth of the "tank" a thick stream of glass flows by gravity
from the bushing into a rapidly rotating alloy steel dish "Crown" which has several hundred fine holes round its
periphery.
The molten glass is thrown out through the holes by centrifugal force to form filaments which are further extended
into fine fibers by a high velocity blast of hot gas. After being sprayed with a suitable bonding agent, the fibres are
drawn by suction onto a horizontally moving conveyor positioned below the rotating dish.
The mat of tangled fibers formed on the conveyor is carried through an oven which cures the bonding agent, then to
trimmers and guillotines which cut the product to size. The mat may be further processed into rigid sections for pipe
insulation. The mats are made into many products for heat and sound insulation in buildings, transport vehicles and
domestic appliances.
Optical Fiber Manufacture

Communications are increasingly based on eletro-optic systems in which telephones, television and computers are
linked by fiber optic cables which carry information by laser light.
Making glass optical fibers is a highly specialized aspect of glass manufacture. Optical fibers consist of two distinct
glasses, core of highly refracting glass surrounded by a sheath of glass with lower refractive index between the two
glasses, it is guided by total reflection at the core-sheath interface to the other end of the fiber. In theory, a wide
range of glasses can be used as long as the difference in refractive index is appropriate but the higher the refractive
index of the core relative to that of the sheath glass, the greater the carrying capacity of the fiber. A typical system
available commercially comprises a germanium doped silica core and a borosilicate cladding.
The aim in manufacture is to produce a fiber of glass which is so pure and free form defects that light inserted at one
end will emerge at the other end a distance of 1 kilometer or more away. There are many manufacturing processes
being used to produce cored fiber; two of these will illustrate the principles. All the processes require ultra-pure
starting materials.
Chemical vapor deposition - high silica glass fibers are prepared by chemical vapor deposition in which layers of SiO,
are deposited to make a preform, either on the outside of a mould or on the inside of a fused silica tube. The layers
are doped during the deposition to control the refractive index. The preform is then drawn to a rod and subsequently
to a fiber of 100-125mm diameter. The surface is protected from damage by a plastic coating.
[Picture Missing]
The double crucible method - The double crucible uses purified glasses in separate crucibles in a controlled
atmosphere furnace. Fiber drawn from the tip consists of a uniform core drawn from the central crucible and a
cladding drawn from the outer crucible.
[Picture Missing]
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Tubing Manufacture of Tubing Danner Process

The Danner Process was developed for the continuous production of glass tubing and rod. Subject to equipment
design the process can make tubing of 1.6mm to 66.5mm diameter and rods of 2.0mm to 20mm diameter at drawing
rates of up to 400m a minute for the smaller sizes.
Glass flows from a furnace forehearth in the form of a ribbon which falls on to the upper end of an inclined refractory
sleeve carried on a rotating hollow shaft or blowpipe. The ribbon is wrapped around the sleeve to form a smooth
layer of glass which flows down the sleeve and over the tip of the shaft. Tubing is formed by blowing air through a
blowpipe with a hollow tip and rods are made by using a solid tip on the shaft.
The tubing is then drawn over a line of support rollers by a drawing machine situated up to 120m away. The
dimensions of the tubing are determined as the glass cools through its setting point at the catenary or unsupported
section between the blowpipe and the first line roller. A given range of size is based on the diameter of the refractory
sleeve, and variations within the range are obtained by adjusting the temperature of the glass, the rate of flow, the
pressure of the blowing air and the speed of the drawing machine.
Manufacture of Tubing Vello Process
The Vello process was a later development with a production capacity greater than that of the Danner process but
based on a different principle.
Glass flows from a furnace forehearth into a bowl in which a hollow vertical mandrel is mounted or a bell surrounded
by an orifice ring. The glass flows through the annular space between the bell and the ring and travels over a line of
rollers to a drawing machine up to 120m away. Tubing is made by blowing air through a bell with a hollow tip and rod
is produced by using a bell with a solid tip. The dimensions of the tubing are controlled by the glass temperature, the
rate of draw, the pressure of the blowing air and the relative dimensions of the bell and ring.
Automatic Domestic Glassware Production
The Westlake machine was developed for blowing bulbs for domestic lamps and radio valves at production rates of
up to 75,000 a day (gross). It has since been adapted for making drinking glasses, including stemmed ware, at up to
55,000 a day (gross).
The machine copies the action of a handblower in gathering glass from the furnace, forming a parison and blowing
the article in a cast iron mould. Twelve pairs of spindles or blowpipes, together with their blowing air valves and past
moulds, travel around a central column. The gathering equipment is carried on top of the column and sets of cams
are fitted around the column to control the sequence of operations.
Glass is gathered by vacuum into a pair of blank moulds and the pairs of blanks are transferred in turn to each pair of
spindles. The spindles are rotated and swung down, and air is introduced to form each blank into a parison,
controlling the profile and distribution of the glass before blowing the required shape in the wetted mould.
The mould opens and the spindle jaws release the article which is then transferred to the stemming machine. Here
the neck formed in the mould is reheated and stretched to the required length. The article then passes to the burn-off
machine where oxygen-gas flames remove the "moil" or waste glass which was originally formed at the gathering
position, and the finished piece is conveyed to the lehr for annealing.
Electric Light Bulb Envelope Production
The ribbon machine was developed for the high speed manufacture of bulbs for domestic lamps, auto lamps,
vacuum flasks, etc. Its main feature is that glass travels through it in a straight line rather than on a rotary path as
with the Westlake machines. Production rates in excess of 1000 a minute can be achieved.
From the furnace forehearth molten glass flows down between two rotating water cooled rollers and on to the Ribbon
machine. On leaving the rollers the ribbon of glass is carried through the machine on a series of orifice plates,
forming a continuous belt pierced with holes.
As the ribbon moves forward, a continuous chain of blowheads does the glassblower's job for him. It blows the glass
through the hole and the "blister" forms into a bulb inside a rotating mould which meets and closes around it from
below. Still moving forward on the ribbon, the shaped bulb is released form its mould, cooled by air jets and then
tapped off the ribbon to fall onto the scoops of a rotary turntable which tips it on to a conveyor belt. This carries it
through an annealing lehr and air cooling to inspection and packing. The unused part of the ribbon passes direct to a
cullet system for re-melting.
Electric Light Bulb Envelope Manufacture
Molten glass flows continuously between water cooled rollers and the ribbon so formed on orifice plates. Blowheads
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from above blow the glass through the holes in the plates. Moulds form below meet and close round these "blisters".
The mould fall away revealing the formed bulbs which are cooled by air jets and tapperd off the ribbon. They fall into
scoops on the rotary turntable which tip them onto the conveyor belt to the annealing lehr. More than 1,000 bulbs per
minute can be produced on such a machine.
Pressed Glassware
Pressing is used for objects with a simple basic shape where the opening is wider than the base, this does not
restrict surface decoration which may be complicated. A plunger is used to form the inner surface of the article by
pushing the glass against the outer mould. Pressing can be hand-operated or fully automatic.
SECONDARY GLASS PROCESSING Annealing
Glass, like most other materials, contracts on cooling. However, due to its low thermal conductivity, it does not cool
uniformly and the surfaces, which cool more rapidly, shrink more quickly than the centre. This produces uncontrolled
strain in the article. If the internal surface of an unannealed container is scratched, the container will disintegrate.
Badly annealed glass articles cannot withstand thermal shock and are liable to break in use. The excessive strain
can be avoided by slow cooling at a controlled rate, called annealing. Annealing is done in an oven, called a lehr,
through which glass articles pass on a slowly moving conveyor belt.
A container, for example, would enter a lehr at approximately 450oC. As the conveyor moves through the lehr, which
is approximately 20m long, the temperature is at first increased to about 560oC, at which the glass just begins to flow
and is then gradually reduced to a temperature at which no further strain can be induced, and then cooled by fan air
to room temperature. The time required for this process depends on the size of the article and the wall thickness but
is normally completed in less than an hour.
Toughening
Glass has an extremely high compressive strength and therefore when it does so due to induced tension on the
surface. Glass can be thermally strengthened by inducing invisible thin layers in compression on the outer surfaces.
In order to break such toughened or tempered glass, the compression has to be neutralized and additional tension
applied. Toughened or tempered glass, the compression has to be neutralized and additional tension applied.
Toughening is obtained by re-heating the glass article uniformly to a temperature just above that at which
deformation could take place and then rapidly cooling the surfaces by jets of air. If one can imagine a sheet of glass
as consisting of 3 layers then the process becomes easier to understand. The air jets rapidly cool and freeze solid
the outer layers while the inner layers continues to contract. While it is contracting it exerts compression on the outer
layers while putting itself under tension. This method can be applied to flat glass or simple shapes like curved car
windscreens or even tumblers. Glass thickness must be uniform, not too thin, and the shape of the article must be
such that all surfaces can be uniformly cooled at the same time. Bottles do not satisfy these conditions and cannot
be toughened in this way. However, it is possible to toughen bottles chemically by immersing hot bottles in a molten
potassium salt. Potassium ions replace sodium ions on the surface and, being larger, create a very thin layer of
compression.
Toughened glass cannot be further processed since any damage to the surface will expose the centre layer, which is
in tension, and the glass will shatter. The shattering of a car windscreen is a good example of this phenomenon.
Coating
The coating of glass surfaces has been practiced for centuries. Mirrors are a good example of this art. However, this
method of giving glass new physical, chemical and optical properties has made great strides in the last few decades.
Lightweight glass containers are coated with organic compounds to give the surfaces a degree of lubricity and thus
preventing abrasion in handling. This adds strength to the container and has enabled glass manufacturers to make a
lighter and better product. Coating containers with tin compounds also produces a stronger product. Coating glass
containers with plastic materials for added strength and safety is a further way of lightweighting or increasing internal
pressure resistance. Other forms of decorations are etching with hydrofluoric acid, sandblasting and vitreous
enameling. In the latter, vitreous enamels, which are low melting point glasses held in an aqueous medium are
deposited on the glass through very fine wire mesh screens and are then fired in an enameling furnace. The enamel
thus becomes an integral part of the glass article.
Decorating
Formed and annealed glass may be further processed. This may be done by taking away from or adding to the
surface of the glass. It may also be heated, manipulated, and reshaped. These methods include:
1. Taking away: A disturbance of the surface of glass may result in a matt or obscured finish. Where a
transparent surface is then required this is produced by polishing on felt or wood wheels of by
hydrofluoric acid solution.
2. Adding: Vitreous enamels, which are glasses that melt at relatively low temperature and can be colored,
may be applied to the surface of formed glass. Metal compounds can also be applied.
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In both these cases the article is then reheated after application of the enamel or metal coating so that it
fuses permanently to the surface of the glass. Also metal films can be applied by spraying, or by
chemical or vapor deposition; and
Decorating Domestic Glass
[Picture Missing]
3. Manipulating: Glass which has been formed and annealed may be reheated and manipulated into a new
shape. It then has to be re-annealed and ma be toughened.
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Copyright 1986-2012, The Survival & Self-Reliance Studies Institute (SSRsi), All Rights Reserved
Site conceptualized, designed, created & maintained by MEG Raven
Snail Mail: SSRsi, PO Box 2572 Dillon, CO. 80435-2572
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Glass Properties, Composition &amp; Uses

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