Glass

See also FibreGlass

Glass description

Glass is a uniform amorphous solid material, usually produced when the viscous molten material cools very rapidly to below its glass transition temperature, without sufficient time for a regular crystal lattice to form. The most familiar form of glass is the silica-based material used for windows, containers and decorative objects.

In its pure form glass is a transparent, strong, hard-wearing, essentially inert, and biologically inactive material which can be formed with very smooth and impervious surfaces. Glass is, however, brittle and will break into sharp shards. These properties can be modified or changed with the addition of other compounds or heat treatment.

Common glass contains about 70% amorphous silicon dioxide (SiO2), which is the same chemical compound found in quartz and in its polycrystalline form, sand.

• text from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass

The raw materials for making glass consist mainly of silica (sand). To melt the sand to make glass, the furnace has to reach a temperature of approximately 3,600°F (1,982°C). Because of the presence of iron in sand, glass with a greenish colour mostly results. So only sand of exceptional purity, white sand, is sought. In Ireland , this white sand is mainly sourced in the Wicklow mountains.

*text from : http://www.kinsalecrystal.ie/history.htm

The Discovery of Glass

Natural glass has existed since the beginnings of time, formed when certain types of rocks melt as a result of high-temperature phenomena such as volcanic eruptions, lightning strikes or the impact of meteorites, and then cool and solidify rapidly. Stone-age man is believed to have used cutting tools made of obsidian (a natural glass of volcanic origin also known as hyalopsite, Iceland agate, or mountain mahogany) and tektites (naturally-formed glasses of extraterrestrial or other origin, also referred to as obsidianites).

According to the ancient-Roman historian Pliny (AD 23-79), Phoenician merchants transporting stone actually discovered glass (or rather became aware of its existence accidentally) in the region of Syria around 5000 BC. Pliny tells how the merchants, after landing, rested cooking pots on blocks of nitrate placed by their fire. With the intense heat of the fire, the blocks eventually melted and mixed with the sand of the beach to form an opaque liquid.

*text from : http://www.glassonline.com/infoserv/history.html

Recycling Glass

Glass is a large component of both household and industrial waste which is why glass recycling points are common.They are normally divided into three sections,green,transparent and brown.This is because different colours of glass are normally chemically incompatible.

Glass recycling is much better for the enviornment as it uses less energy than glass being manufactured from sand,lime and soda.

Glass used in Art

Glass products

Recycled glass products

Transglass

Designed By Tord Boontje and Emma Woffenden

Innovative glass products

Self cleaning glass

The unique dual-action of the Pilkington Activ™ coating uses the forces of nature to help keep the glass free from organic dirt, giving you not only the practical benefit of less cleaning, but also clearer, better-looking windows.

• http://www.pilkington.com/international+products/activ/default.htm

Bullet proof glass

• http://www.wearingwilliams.mb.ca/ballistic.html
• http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot6.htm

Glass in Architecture

Glass has been used in buildings since the 11th century. Uses for glass in buildings include as a transparent material for windows, as internal glazed partitions and as architectural features.

Glass in buildings can be of a safety type, including wired, toughened and laminated glasses. Glass fibre insulation is common in roofs and walls. Foamed glass, made from waste glass, can be used as lightweight, closed-cell insulation.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_Glass

coated glass

Color effect filters are excellent designing elements of architecture because of their high translucence, the possibility of subtractive mixing of light, and high temperature resistance.

• http://www.prinzoptics.de/en/home/index.php

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