GLASS

Dr. Prashant Mehta

Assistant Professor
National Law University, Jodhpur
Glass
• Definition
• Preparation
• Composition
• Variety
• Uses
Definition
Glass is an amorphous, hard, brittle, transparent or
translucent super cooled liquid of infinite viscosity,
having no definite melting point obtained by fusing a
mixture of a number of metallic silicates or borates of
Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, and Lead.
I
It possess no definite formula or crystalline structure.
• “An inorganic product of fusion which has cooled to a
rigid condition without crystallizing”
• Does not have a specific melting point
• Softens over a temperature range
Properties of glass
Glass is:

• Amorphous
• Brittle
• Transparent / Translucent
• Good electrical insulator
• Unaffected by air, water, acid or chemical reagents
except HF
• No definite crystal structure means glass has high
Compressive strength
• Can absorb, transmit and reflect light
Raw materials used in manufacturing glass

Raw Materials
• Sodium as Na2Co3 (used in soft glass).
• Potassium as K2Co3 (used in Hard Glass).
• Calcium as lime stone, chalk and lime.
• Lead as litharge, red lead (flint glass).
• Silica arc quartz, white sand and ignited flint.
• Zinc is zinc oxide (Heat and shock proof glass).
• Borates are borax, Boric acid (Heat and shock proof glass).
• Cullets or pieces of broken glass to increase fusibility.
Glass Components
• Formers – Network Formation
SiO2, B2O3, P2O5, GeO2, V2O5, As2O3, Sb2O5
• Fluxes – Softeners
Na2O, K2O, LiO, Al2O3, B2O3, Cs2O
• Stabilizers – Provide Chemical Resistance
CaO, MgO, Al2O3, PbO, SrO, BaO, ZnO, ZrO
Manufacturing steps
 Melting

 Forming and Shaping

 Annealing

 Finishing
Melting process
Raw materials in proper proportions are mixed with
cullets. It is finely powdered and intimate mixture called
batch is fused in furnace at high temperature of 1800°C
this charge melts and fuses into a viscous fluid.

CaCO3 + SiO2  CaSiO3 + CO2 

Na2CO3 + SiO2  Na2SiO3 + CO2

After removal of CO2 decolorizes like MnO2 are added to

remove traces of ferrous compounds and Carbon.
Heating is continued till clear molten mass is free from
bubbles is obtained and it is then cooled to about 800°C.
Forming, shaping, and annealing
• Forming and Shaping

The viscous mass obtained from melting is poured into

moulds to get different types of articles of desired shape by
either blowing or pressing between the rollers.

• Annealing

Glass articles are then allowed to cool gradually at room

temperature by passing through different chambers with
descending temperatures. This reduces the internal Strain
in the glass.
finishing
Finishing is the last step in glass manufacturing. It
involves following steps.

 Cleaning

 Grinding

 Polishing

 Cutting

 Sand Blasting
Varieties of glass

Soda lime or soft Potash lime or hard Lead glass or flint Borosilicate or Pyrex
glass glass glass glass

Alumino- Silicate 96% Silica glass 99.5% Silica Safety glass

glass glass(Vitreosil)

Optical or Crook’s Poly-crystalline glass Toughened glass Colored glass

glass

Wired Glass Glass Wool Fiber glass Photosensitive

glass

Photo-chromic glass Neutral glass Laminated glass Insulating glass

Sodalime or soft glass
• About 90% of all glass is soda-lime glass made with silica
(sand), Calcium carbonate and soda ash.
• The approximate composition is Na2CO3.CaO.6SiO2.
• They are low cost, resistant to water but not to acids.
• They can melt easily and hence can be hot worked.

• Uses:
Window glass, Electric bulbs, Plate glass, Bottles, Jars, cheaper table
wares, test tubes, reagent bottles etc
Potash lime or hard glass
• Potash lime glass is made with silica (sand), Calcium carbonate and
potassium carbonate.
• The approximate composition is K2CO3.CaO.6SiO2.
• They posses high melting point, fuse with difficulty and are less
acted upon by acids, alkaline and other solvents than ordinary glass.

• Uses:
These glasses are costlier than soda lime glass and are used for
chemical apparatus, combustion tubes and glassware which are used
for heating operations.
Lead glass or flint glass
• It is made up of lead oxide fluxed with silica and K2CO3
is used instead of sodium oxide.
• Its approximate composition is K2Co3.PbO.SiO2.
• To get dense optical glasses about 80% lead oxide is
used. Lead glasses has a lower softening temperature
than soda glass and higher refractive index and good
electrical properties. It is bright lustrous and possess
high specific gravity.

• Uses:
High quality table wares, optical lenses, neon sign
tubing, cathode ray tubes, electrical insulators, crystal
art objects or cut glass, Windows and Shields for
protection against X-rays and Gamma rays in medical
and atomic energy fields etc.
Borosilicate / pyrex / jena glass
• It is common hard glass containing
silica and boron with small amount of
alumina and less alkaline solids.
• It contains
SiO2(80.5%), B2O3(13%), Al2O3(03%), K2
O(3%) and Na2O(0.5%). These glass
have low thermal coefficient of
expansion, and high chemical resistance
i.e..shock proof.

• Uses:
Industrially used for pipeline of
corrosive liquids, gauge
glasses, superior laboratory
apparatus, kitchen wares, chemical
plants, television tubes, electrical
insulators etc.
Alumino-silicate glass
• The typical approximate composition
of this type of glass is
SiO2(55%), Al2O3(23%), MgO(09%),
B2O3(07%), CaO(05%) and
Na2O, K2O(01%).
• This type of glass possess
exceptionally high softening
temperature.

• Uses:
It is used for high pressure mercury
discharge tubes, chemical
combustion tubes and certain
domestic equipments.
96% silica glass
• It contains 96% Silica, 03% B2O3 and traces of
other materials.
• It is translucent, the coefficient of thermal
expansion is very low hence it has high
resistance to thermal shock, have high chemical
resistance to corrosive agents and are corroded
only by Hydrofluoric acid, hot phosphoric acids
and concentrated alkaline solutions.

• Uses:
Used only where high temperature resistance is
required (800°C). They are used in construction
of chemical plants, laboratory
crucibles, induction furnace lining and electrical
insulators.
99.5% silica glass / vitreosil
• It contains pure silica heated to its
melting point. It is translucent, the
coefficient of thermal expansion is very
low hence it has high resistance to
thermal shock, have high chemical
resistance to corrosive agents.
• If Vitreosil glass is heated above its
melting point, it becomes transparent and
is known as clear silica glass.

• Uses:
They are used in construction of chemical
plants, laboratory crucibles, induction
furnace lining, electrical insulators and
heaters and have high light transmission
properties.
Safety glass
• It is made by fusing two to three flat
sheets of glass and in between them
alternate thin layer of vinyl plastic is
introduced. It is heated where both the
layers merge together and glass is
toughened.

• Uses:
It is used as wind shield in automobiles
and airplanes. On breaking it pieces does
not fly apart because of the presence of
the plastic layer in between the glass
layers.
Optical or crook’s glass
• It contains Phosphorus, PbCO3, silicates and Cerium oxide which
has the property to absorb harmful ultra-violet light. This glass is
given through homogeneity by heating it for a prolonged period of
time. These glasses have low melting point and are relatively soft.

• Uses:
They are used for making optical lenses.
Poly-crystalline glass
• It is new type of glass which is produced by adding
nucleating agents to a conventional glass batch and
then shaped into desired form. It is then subjected to
heating where nucleating agents forms large number
of micro crystallites. It is not ductile. It exhibits high
strength and considerable hardness.

• Uses:
For making specialized articles.
Toughened glass
• It is made by dipping articles still hot in
an oil bath, so that chilling takes place.
This results in outer layer of articles
shrink and acquire a state of
compression while inner layer are in
state of tension. Such glass is more
elastic to mechanical and thermal shock.
It breaks into a fine powder.

• Uses:
For making window shields of fast
moving vehicles, windows of furnace and
automatic opening doors.
Coloured glass
Addition of transition metal compounds to glass gives color to the glass. They
are outlined below.
Yellow: Ferric Salts Green: Ferrous and Chromium Purple: Magnese dioxide salt
salts

Red: Nickel and cuprous salts Lemon Yellow: Cadmium Fluorescent greenish yellow:
Cu2O sulphide Uranium oxide

Blue: Cobalt Salts, CuO Greenish Blue Color: Brown: Iron

Copper Sulphate

Opaque milky white: Cryolite Ruby : Auric Chloride

of Calcium phosphate
Wired glass
• Wired glass does not fall apart into splinters when it breaks and is fire
resistant. It is made by fusing wire in between the two glass layers.

Uses:
For making fire resistant doors, roofs, skylights and windows
Fibre glass
• It is transformed into a fine thread of filament and has got a high
tensile strength.

Uses:
Found extensive use for the manufacture of fabric, reinforcing
plastics and production of thermal insulation materials etc
Photosensitive glass
• These are glasses by which a
colored picture may be developed
by exposing the glass to black
and white negative in ultra violet
light. The appropriate
proportions of potash-alumina
glass, mixed with LiSO3, cerium
and Silver salts have also been
used as photosensitive glass.

• Uses:
Photographic development
Glass wool
• Glass wool consists of tiny fibers
formed by action of steam jets on
dripping molten glass down from
very fine hole.

• Uses:
Heat Insulation, for filtration of
Corrosive chemicals, sound
insulation etc
Photo-chromic glass
• The three dimensional silicate network
contains large no. of microscopic
particles of silver halide which on
exposure to light produce color.

• Uses:
In making tinted car glasses and
goggles.
Neutral glass
• These glasses are highly resistant to chemical attacks and they are
specialized soda lime glass where alkali has been replaced by
alumina, boron oxide and zinc oxide.

• Uses:
Making Syringes, Injection Ampoules and vials etc.
Laminated glass
• The sheets of glass fiber or glass wool are soaked in a solution of
thermosetting plastic like phenol formaldehyde resin and placed one above
the other and then cured under heat or pressure. It is strong as steel. Non
flammable and insulating. In bullet resistant glass vinyl resins are added in
alternate layers.

• Uses:
Shatter, shock and Bullet proof Glass
Insulating glass
• Two or more plates of glass are filled with dehydrated air and the
edges are sealed air-tightly.

• Uses:
Provides thermal insulating and so houses remain cool in summer
and warm in winter.
Fracture / failure of glass
• Glass does not have crystal lattice structure hence it breaks. Fracture
is caused by small imperfections, flaws and irregularity on the
surface of the glass. Flaws are very fine cracks cause concentration
of stress and the crack proceeds quickly causing a fracture.
Major Forensic Glass Sources
• Flat Glass – Soda lime silicate
Drawing, Rolling, or Floating
– Tempered: Rapid Cooling
• Adds Strength
• Dices when broken
• Automotive windows &
security windows
• Float Glass floresces
when excited at 254 nm.
– Coated: Surface modification
• Mirrors
– Laminated: Sandwiched
around plastic
• Automotive windshields
– Headlights: Sometimes
borosilicate
– Light bulbs: Soda lime glass
– Heat absorbing/ UV filtering
• Tinted
– Photochromic (Light
Sensitive)
• Eyeglasses
• Container Glass
– Lower magnesium, higher
sodium
– Clear vs. greenish (window)
• Glass Fibers
– Fiberglass insulation
– Alumino-borosilicate
– Binder (red or yellow) to hold
fibers in bundles
Glass Fractures

GLASS FRACTURES
First bends in the direction of the force splintering and cracking and breaking.
Radial cracks - Concentric cracks.
3 Rs - RADIAL - RIGHT ANGLES - REVERSE PROJECTILES AND BULLETS
If does not penetrate get the ejection of a small cone of the glass
Bullets edge will be wedged
hole wider in the direction of travel
size of the bullet holes
laminated glass and plastic sheet
size of bullet and distances
Glass breaks in a characteristic manner which indicates the direction of travel of the
impacting object. Conchoidial striations are ripples seen through the cross section of
broken glass. They are always at right angles to the impacted surface.
Radial fractures emanating from high velocity projectile entry points indicate the sequence
in which guns shots were fired. The radial cracks will stop where an earlier crack already
exists, so it must have come later in the sequence.
Glass
Glass is found in many types of cases. Like paint, it is often involved in
burglaries and hit-and-runs. Glass fragments easily embed in shoes, hair
and clothing of people involved in the breakage of glass. Sometimes glass
fragments can be reconstructed to yield evidence. Reconstruction.
Collection of evidence
It is best to take a representative sample of the glass - this could be the
four corners of a broken window, or all the glass available if the glass
broken is not a window. If more than one type of glass is broken, collect
representative samples of each different type.
Analysis of evidence

Most glass analyses consist of comparing the refractive indices, elemental

compositions and densities of two or more samples.
Glass
The forensic scientist will first of all assess the physical characteristics of the glass:
• Refractive index. This is a measure of how much the light is bent, or refracted, as it
passes through the glass.
If a colourless piece of glass is put into water, you can still see it because the water and
glass have different refractive indices. The refractive index of glass does not vary
significantly with temperature, but those of liquids do. If a piece of glass is placed in a
liquid which is then heated, at some point the refractive indices will be identical and you
will no longer be able to see the piece of glass. If the two pieces of glass – one the
suspect and one from the scene of crime, have identical refractive indices, then they
are from the same source. Nowadays, refractive index methods are semi-automatic –
the GRIM2 instrument measures the refractive index of glass fragments by reference to
calibrated immersion oils and automatically identifies the glass.
• Elemental composition. The elements investigated are usually
sodium, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, potassium, calcium, barium and iron.
• Density measurements. The density of glass can be measured by flotation
measurements, though this technique is rarely used these days.
 Glass Gallery
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