GLASS

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the class, students should be able to:

1. Identify the properties of glass

2. Understand the production of glass
3. Understand the application of glass as construction materials
 History of glass
Glass is that mysterious translucent substance of what is
essentially super-heated silica sand.

Although details about the history of glass and glass making are
still disputed, the earliest use of glass was undoubtedly that of
the natural glass called obsidian.

Obsidian is a natural byproduct of volcanic eruptions and it was

prized by prehistoric societies the world over for its shiny black,
orange, gray or green beauty, its sharp edges, and its
workability.
History of glass
Important dates in the History of Glass
~4500 B.C. to 3000 B.C. Glass first used in Egypt and Mesopotamia
~1500 B.C. First glass vessels made in Egypt
~200 B.C. Glass blowing invented in the near East
~600 A.D. Stained glass windows introduced in Constantinople
1674 A.D. Lead crystal invented by George Ravenscroft in England
1688 A.D. Cast plate glass-France
1690 A.D. First glassworks in Ireland
1827 A.D. Glass pressed into moulds-U.S.A.
1851 A.D. Crystal Palace built in London-first prefabricated building of iron and glass
1874 A.D. Glass toughened by oil quenching -France
1886 A.D. First semi-automated bottle maker -England
1903 A.D. First automatic bottle making machine invented by Michael Owens, an
Irishman, in the U.S.A.
1903 A.D. Chance discovery of laminated glass by Benedictus in France
1915 A.D. Invention of borosilicate glass in the U.S.A.
1937 A.D. Photosensitive glass invented by Dalton in the U.S.A.
1957 A.D. Glass ceramic made by accident by Stookey in the U.S.A.
1959 A.D. Float glass process for plate glass introduced by Pilkingtons in the U.K.
 Glass Properties
• Appearance
Ordinary glass is transparent and more or less colorless.

• Density
2560kg/m3. For comparison: Perspex 807, aluminium 2771, steel 7850.
Glass weights 2.5 kg/m2 per/mm thickness
 Glass Properties
• Melting point
1500°C approx.(Aluminium 660, Steel 1900°C)

• Solar heat transmission

Ordinary glass is relatively transparent but solar heat rejecting glasses are
available
 Glass Properties
Durability
Glass is extremely durable in normal condition
However, can be attacked by hydrofluoric and phosphoric acids and by strong alkalis
(caustic soda)
Affected also by alkaline paint removers which are not properly cleaned off
Can be damaged by permanents condensation in unventilated cavities between
sheets of glass
 Glass Properties
Strength properties
• Required to resist loads including wind loads, impact by persons and animals, thermal
and other stress
Safety and security from injury
• The breaking of glass presents a serious potential hazard in building.
• The critical locations, where the hazard is the greatest, the glass should either:
1) break safety
2) be robust or in small panels
3) be permanently protected
• Thermal movement

Because the coefficient of thermal movement for glass is lower than that of
the materials which it normally fixed, allowance should be made for
movement

Thermal stresses arising where one part of a glass pane is at a different

temperature from the other part that can lead to breakage
• Thermal Insulation
Double glazing glass provides better thermal insulation from conducted heat
than single glazing

• Sound insulation
Sound reduction values is depend on various weights of glass and types of
windows.

Sealed double glazing is therefore necessary for a good thermal insulation

• Behaviour in fire
Although non-combustible, ordinary glass breaks and later melts in fires, and
double glazing shows no significant advantage over single glazing.

Glass is good conductor of heat and radiation from glass can ignite any
combustible material
 Glass Production
 Glass products are produced by several basic processes

 Blowing by mouth: for antique glasses and by machine for bottles

 Drawing ordinary sheet glass or window

 Grinding and polishing for rough cast glass

 Glass Production

Today, the main process are:

 Rolling for rough cast and patterned glasses

 Floating to give parallel and flat surfaces so that vision is not distorted

 Pressing for lenses, hollow glass blocks etc.

 Glass making

Free Blowing
This method uses a long pipe usually made from clay, the glass is
collected at one end and from other end it air is blow by a person.
 GLASS

Types of glass
There are a number of different types of glass, in a range of patterns and
tints, and it is important to decide which is most suited for a particular job.
'Ordinary' sheet glass

This glass is made by passing the molten glass through rollers; this process gives an
almost flat finish but the effects of the rollers upon the molten glass makes some
distortion inevitable.

The glass can be used in domestic windows etc. but the relatively low cost of float
glass (with its lack of distortion) has tended to restrict ordinary sheet glass to
glazing greenhouses and garden sheds where the visual distortions do not matter.

Sheet glass can be cut a glass cutter and no special equipment is necessary. The
glass is often available in standard sizes to suit 'standard' glasshouses, these sizes
tend to be comparatively cheaper than glass cut to size.
Energy efficient glass

 Some manufacturers produce float glass with a special thin coating on

one side which, allows the suns energy to pass through in one
direction while reducing the thermal transfer the other way.

 The special coating often gives a very slight brown or grey tint to the
glass. The coating is not very robust and would not last very long if
subjected to normal cleaning or external weather conditions
Toughened/Tempered (Safety glass)
Toughened glass is produced by applying a special treatment to ordinary float
glass after it has been cut to size and finished.
The treatment involves heating the glass so that it begins to soften (about 620
degrees C) and then rapidly cooling it. This produces a glass which, if broken,
breaks into small pieces without sharp edges.
The treatment does increase the surface tension of the glass which can cause it
to 'explode' if broken; this is more a dramatic effect than hazardous.
It is important to note that the treatment must be applied only after all cutting
and processing has been completed, as once 'toughened', any attempt to cut
the glass will cause it to shatter.
Toughened glass is ideal for glazed doors, low level windows (for safety) and
for tabletops (where it can withstand high temperature associated with cooking
pots etc.
Laminated glass

 Made by pasting PVB (polyvinyl butyral) resin glue film between two or
more pieces of glass sheet, then heating, pressing and bonding them
together to create flat or curved compound glass product.

 The glass sheet for making laminated glass can be ordinary glass, float
glass, tempered glass, colored glass, heat-absorbing glass or heat-
reflecting glass etc. The layer quantity is 2, 3, 5, 7, up to 9.

 Laminated glass has good transparency, and its impact resistance is

several times higher than that of ordinary sheet glass. Bullet-proof glass is
made by compounding multiple layers of ordinary glass or tempered glass.
 Due to the adhesion of PVB glue film, even when the glass breaks, its
fragments keep binding on the thin film and will not hurt people, and
the surface of the fragmented glass remains clean and smooth, which
effectively prevents fragments from penetrating or falling, thus ensures
human safety.

 Laminated glass made of different sheet glass has different features

such as durability, heat resistance and moisture resistance etc.

 Laminated glass is used extensively in building and housing products

and in the automotive and transport industries. Most building facades
and most car windscreens, for example, are made with laminated glass,
usually with other technologies also incorporated.
https://www.glassmanufacturerchina.com/
Wired glass

Wired glass incorporates a wire mesh (usually about 10mm spacing) in the
middle of the glass. Should be glass crack or break, the wire tends to hold
the glass together.

It is ideal for roofing in such areas as a garage or conservatory where its
'industrial' look is not too unattractive.

Wired glass is generally not considered a Safety glass as the glass still
breaks with sharp edges.

Wired glass is available as clear or obscured

Mirrors

 Mirrors are usually made from float glass 4-6mm thick, and silvered
on one side.

 Mirrors are available for use without a surrounding frame, these

usually are made from a type of safety glass.
Tinted Glass
It is a normal float-clear glass into whose melt colorants are added
for tinting and solar-radiation absorption properties. This reduces heat
penetration in buildings. Coloured glass is an important architectural
element for the exterior appearance of facades.
The inclusion of metal oxides creates tinted glass in a range of colors
(bronze, grey, blue, green), but some manufacturers have slightly
different formulations and tint colors.
Reflective & Coated Glass
This is an ordinary float glass with a metallic coating to reduce solar heat.
This special metallic coating also produces a mirror effect, preventing
the subject from seeing through the glass. It is mainly used in facades.
Insulating Glass Units

Insulating glass is a multi-glass combination consisting of two or more panes

enclosing a hermetically-sealed air space.

The most important function of insulation glass is to reduce thermal losses,

which offers many advantages: lower energy consumption, perfect
transparency by reducing the incidence of condensation on the warm air side
and the possibility of using larger glazed areas without increasing energy
consumption.
Sand-blasted glass

This is produced by spraying sand at high velocities over the surface

of the glass. This gives the glass a translucent surface, which is usually rougher
than that obtained by etching.

During sandblasting, only the areas that are to remain transparent are masked
for protection. The depth and degree of the translucency of the sand-blasted
finishing vary with the force and type of sand used.

Sand-blasted glass can be used in numerous interior design applications in both

residential and commercial settings: doors, shower screens, partitions
and interior screens, furniture, etc
 Float glass
 Float glass is sheet glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of molten
tin. This method gives the glass uniform thickness and a very flat surface.

 The molten glass spreads onto the surface of the metal and produces a high
quality, consistently level sheet of glass that is later heat polished.

 The glass has no wave or distortion and is now the standard method for
glass production; over 90% of the world glass production of glass is float
glass.
Float glass
Float glass
Float glass
Float glass production process
1. Batching of raw materials:

 The main components, namely, soda lime glass, silica sand (73%),
calcium oxide (9%), soda (13%) and magnesium (4%), are
weighed and mixed into batches to which recycled glass (cullet) is
added. The use of ‘cullet’ reduces the consumption of natural gas.
The materials are tested and stored for later mixing under
computerised control.
 Float glass
2. Melting of raw materials in the furnace:

 The batched raw materials pass from a mixing silo to a five-chambered

furnace where they become molten at a temperature of approximately
1500°C.

3. Drawing the molten glass onto the tin bath:

 The molten glass is "floated" onto a bath of molten tin at a temperature

of about 1000°C. It forms a ribbon with a working width of 3210mm
which is normally between 3 and 25mm thick. The glass which is highly
viscous and the tin which is very fluid do not mix and the contact surface
between these two materials is perfectly flat.
Melting of raw materials in the furnace
Melting of raw materials in the furnace
Drawing the molten glass onto the tin bath
 Float glass
4. Cooling of the molten glass in the annealing lehr:
 On leaving the bath of molten tin, the glass - now at a temperature of 600°C
- has cooled down sufficiently to pass to an annealing chamber called a lehr.
 The glass is now hard enough to pass over rollers and is annealed, which
modifies the internal stresses enabling it to be cut and worked in a predictable
way and ensuring flatness of the glass.
 As both surfaces are fire finished, they need no grinding or polishing.
Cooling of the molten glass in the annealing lehr
Float glass production line -Cold end
 Float glass
5. Quality checks, automatic cutting, and storage:
 After cooling, the glass undergoes rigorous quality checks and is washed. It
is then cut into sheets of sizes of up to 6000mm x 3210mm which are in turn
stacked, stored and ready for transport.
Applications
 Float glass is used for glazing wherever full transparency is required in
buildings.
 It is used as a base material for safety glass, reflective glass and self-
cleaning glass, among others.
 It can be used in precision mechanics, especially where extreme surface
flatness is required. E.g., for visual displays.
Coated glass production line
Advantages of Glass
 Save energy-natural lighting
 Good insulator
 Safety
 Aesthetic value
 Lightweight materials
 Less maintenance materials
 Durability
 Easy to clean
 Applicable to high-rise building
 Good sound insulator
 Reusable
 Healthy materials
Disadvantages of Glass

 Reflect heat

 Expensive

 Easily broken/fragile

 Safety and security

 Labour- expert

 Reflection

 Urban Heat Island (UHI) effects

Application of Glass
Application of Glass
Maintenance for glass

 Routine inspection

 Regular cleaning

 Prompt repair of minor problems

 Written records of maintenance activity

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