MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION –

III

LECTURE NO. II
Dated: 25/09/2017
TOPICS TO BE COVERED:

_ Introduction to Glass
_ Constituents of Glass
_ Manufacturing Process
_ Classification of Glass
_ Commercial Forms of Glass
_ Characteristics of Good Glass
_ Uses of Glass
GLASS:
Glass is an amorphous substance having homogeneous texture. It is a hard, brittle, transparent or translucent
material. It is the most common material glazed into frames for doors, windows and curtain walls. The most
common types used in building construction are sheet, plate, laminated, insulating, tempered, wired and
patterned glass. Most ordinary colourless glasses are alkali-lime silicate and alkali-lead silicate with tensile and
compressive strengths.
The strength is very much afftected by internal defects, cords and foreign intrusions. The main shortcoming of
glass is its brittleness which depends on a number of factors, the chief one being the ratio of the modulus of
elasticity of the material to its tensile strength.
CONSTITUENTS:
The raw materials used in manufacturing glass are sand, lime (chalks) and soda or potash which are fused over
1000° C. Oxides of iron, lead and borax are added to modify hardness, brilliance and color.

SILICA: Silica is used in the form of pure quartz and crushed sandstone; should be free from iron contents for
best quality glass. Since it melts at very high temperatures (1710° C) carbonates of sodium or potassium are
added to lower down the fusing temperature to about 800° C. These also make liquid silica more viscous and
workable.

LIME: Lime is used in the form of limestone, chalk or pure marble and sometimes marl. The addition of lime
makes the glass fluid and suitable for blowing, drawing, rolling, pressing or spinning. It also imparts durability
and toughness to glass. Excess of lime makes the molten mass too thin for fabrication.

SODA: Soda acts as an accelerator for the fusion of glass and an excess of it is harmful.

POTASH: Potash renders glass infusible and makes glass fire resistant.
LEAD OXIDE: Lead Oxide imparts colour, brightness and shine. When 15–30% of it added to substitute lime it
lowers the melting point, imparts good workability, while its transparency is lost with the glass becoming brittle
and crystalline.

CULLETS: Cullets are broken glasses added to act as a flux to prevent loss of alkali during the process of
forming glass and also to lower the fusion temperature. These crystalline areas are extremely weak and brittle.
Stabilizers are added to overcome these defects.

Titanic Acid, Oxides of Nickel and Cobalt are also used for neutralization.
MANUFACTURING PROCESS:
Glass is manufactured in the following six steps:

1. MELTING
2. FORMING AND SHAPING
 BLOWING
 FLAT DRAWING
3. COMPRESSION MOULDING
4. SPINNING
5. ANNEALING
6. FINISHING
MELTING:
The raw materials — lime, soda and sand — separately cleaned, ground, sieved (called ‘Batch’) in definite
proportion and mixed with water are fused in a continuous type (tank) furnace or batch-type (pot) furnace. The
charge in the first stage melts, forming a bubbly, sticky mass, and as the temperature is raised (1100° C–1200° C)
it turns to a more watery liquid and the bubbles rise to the surface. The melting process in case of ordinary
soda-glass involves the following series of reactions:

CaCO3+SiO2 CaSiO3 + CO2

Na2CO3 + SiO2 Na2SiO3 + CO2

When all the carbon dioxide has escaped out of the

molten mass, decolourisers such as MnO2 + CO2 or
nitre are added to do away with ferrous compounds
and carbon. The colouring salts are added at this stage.
Heating is continued till the molten mass is free from
bubbles and glass balls. As the glass cools (800° C), it is
ready to be drawn or floated to its desired thickness
and size at the other end of the furnace.
FORMING AND SHAPING:
The molten glass can be fabricated to desired shapes by any one of the following methods:

BLOWING:
A 2 m long and 12 mm diameter blow pipe is dipped in the molten glass and taken out. It is held vertically and is
vigorously blown by the operator. The sticking molten glass takes the shape of a hollow ball. On cooling it is
reheated and the blowing operation repeated a number of times till the desired articles are ready.

FLAT DRAWING:
The process of drawing the glass up into a sheet begins when
an grille (bait) is lowered into the glass in the kiln. In a short
time the liquid molten glass adheres to the bait, and as the bait
is slowly lifted it draws a sheet of glass. The bait and the drawn
sheet of glass are then drawn through rollers, the bait is cracked
off and a continuous sheet of glass is drawn up. This sheet is
then slowly cooled in a chamber and annealed for cutting into
proper size.
COMPRESSION MOULDING:
In this process moulds are used to obtain the articles of desired shapes.

SPINNING:
A machine is used to spin the molten glass. The fibres so produced are very fine and are used for heat and
sound insulation.

ANNEALING:
Glass articles are allowed to cool under room temperature by passing through different chambers with
descending temperature. If cooled rapidly, the glass being bad conductor of heat, the superficial layer cools
down first and strain develops in the interior portions, which causes unequal expansion and the articles are
likely to crack.

FINISHING:
After annealing the glass articles are cleaned, ground, polished, cut and sand blasted.
CLASSIFICATION OF GLASS:
Depending upon the constituents glasses are classified as soda-lime glass, lead glass and borosilicate glass.

SODA-LIME GLASS:
It is also known as soda-ash glass, soda glass or soft glass. Soda-lime glass is obtained by fusing a mixture of
silica, lime and soda. The quality of this glass can be improved by adding alumina and magnesium oxide and the
glass is then called crownglass. This is the most common type of glass used in doors, windows and for making
glass-wares such as bottles.

LEAD GLASS:
It is also known as flint glass is obtained by fusing a mixture of silica, lead and potash. It is free from iron
impurities and is colourless. Lead glass has high shining appearance and can take polish. It is not affected by
temperature. Electric bulbs, optical glasses, cut glass, ornamental glass works and radio valves are some of the
articles made from it.

BORO-SILICATE GLASS:
It is obtained by fusing a mixture of silica, borax, lime and felspar. The examples are heat resisting glass. Boro-
silicate glass can withstand high temperatures and is most suitable for making laboratory equipment and cooking
utensils.
COMMERCIAL FORMS OF GLASS:
Glass are classified commercially into following types:
Sheet Glass:
It is used for glazing doors, windows and partitions and is obtained by blowing the molten glass into the shape of
a cylinder. It is available in thicknesses of 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 5.5 and 6.5 mm and up to 1750 × 1100 mm size and is
classified as:
Type Uses
Ordinary glazing quality General engineering purpose
Selected glazing quality Class works
Special selected quality Superior quality works such as show cases
and cabinets etc.
Plate Glass:
It is used for all engineering purposes and is superior to sheet glass. A plate glass differs from a sheet glass in that
it has a parallel, distortion-free surface obtained by grinding or floating process. It is produced by pouring the
molten glass on casting tables and levelling it to an uniform thickness.
It is available in thicknesses of 3 to 32 mm and sizes up to 2750 × 900 mm. It is classified as:
Type Uses
Ground glass quality Showcases, cabinets, counters, shop fronts, etc.
Selected glazing quality Making mirrors
Special selected quality High class works, wind screen of vehicles
Tempered Glass:
It is made from plate glass by reheating and sudden cooling and is 3 to 5 times stronger than plate glass.
Although not unbreakable, it resists bending stress better than plate glass and, when broken, the pieces are
relatively small in size. It is used extensively in sports arenas, sliding doors and curtain walls.

Wired Glass:
It is produced by embedding wire nets 0.46 to 0.56 mm into the centre of sheet glass during casting. The
minimum thickness of wired glass is 6 mm. When broken it does not fall into pieces. It has higher melting point
than ordinary glass. Wired glass is used for fire resisting doors and windows, for sky lights and roofs. A special
example of this is wired-refrax glass which transmits 100 per cent more light than the other glasses.

Obscured Glass:
It is made comparatively opaque to sunlight. Also known as patterned glass. They are classified as frosted, rolled
and ribbed.
Frosted Glass is produced by subjecting the polished face of the glass to a sand blast which grinds off the
surface. It can also be produced by etching on glass by hydrofluoric acid.
Rolled Glass has a series of waves of desired pattern on the surface and is also known as figured rolled glass.
Ribbed Glass A series of triangular ribs are produced in the glass during casting.
Laminated Glass
It is made by sandwiching a layer of polyvinyl butyral between two or more layers of plate or sheet glass. It is
also lso known as safety glass. The examples are heat proof glass, sound proof glass and bullet proof glass.
Heat and Sound Proof Glasses: Two or more glass plates are sandwiched by a tinted plastic inner layer. It
provides high resistance to heat and glare. By increasing the thickness of plastic layer the glass can be made more
sound resistant.
Bullet Proof Glass is produced by placing vinyl plastic and glass in several alternate layers and pressing
them with outer layers of glass. It is used in banks, jewellery stores and display windows.
Insulating Glass is composed of two glass plates into which a layer of 6–13 mm thick dehydrated air is
sealed. The round edges are formed by fusing together the two glass plates. These glasses reduce the heat
transmission by 30–60 per cent.

Heat Absorbing Glass:

It is bluish green in colour and cuts ultra violet rays of sun. The example is calorex. It is used in railway carriages,
factories, hospitals, health clubs and kitchens.
Ground Glass:
In this type of glass one face of plate or sheet glass is made rough by grinding. It is used for maintaining privacy
by obstructing vision and at the same time allowing light. The ground glass is used for bedrooms, toilets and for
making black boards.

Block Glass:
It is hollow sealed made by fastening together two halves of pressed glass. It is used for making partitions.

Colored Glass:
It is produced by adding oxides of metals to molten glass:
Types of glasses
 Ruby red glass lead glass
 Ruby rose glass
 Blue glass
 Yellow glass
 Green glass (emerald green)
 Violet glass (violet)
 Black glass
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD GLASS:

1. It has highly shining appearance and takes good polish.

2. It is not massively affected by temperature except in some special cases.
3. It is fire retardant.
4. It provides heat insulation.
5. It ensures transmission of light.
6. Number of varieties actually improve the demand of glass.
7. It transmits light but also provides privacy by obstructing vision.
8. Glass blocks provide heat and sound proof properties.
 USES OF GLASS:

Glass Type Properties Limitations Uses

Soda Lime Inexpensive, Easy to melt and shape, most Poor Durability; not chemically Windows; Bottles; Light Bulbs;
widely used glass resistant; poor thermal shock Jars
resistance

Lead Glass High Density; Brilliant; way easy to Poor Durability; Easily Fine Crystal radiation
melt, shape out and engrave Scratched windows; TV Tube Parts
Boro-Silicate Glass Very good thermal shock resistance Not suitable for long term Labware; Kitchenware;
and chemical durability; easy to melt high temperature use. Special Light Bulbs; Glass
and shape Pipe,
Alumino-Silicate Excellent Thermal resistance; More difficult to melt and Top of Stove cookware; high
Glass durability shape than boro-silicates quality fiberglass
High Silica Outstanding Thermal resistance Difficult to make; very Spacecraft Windows;
expensive Labware; Fiber Optics
THE END