Glass: Various Characteristics, kinds and classifications

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Glass is a hard usually transparent material that is chemically inert, brittle, hard and has widespread practical, technological, and decorative usage in, i.e. window panes, tableware, optoelectronics.





Characteristics


Glass is a most astounding building material.
A typical piece of 6mm-thick clear float glass is 87 percent transparent to visible light and yet strong enough to fulfill a number of building roles that provide protection, security and comfort.

Chemical Resistance
Glass will resist most acids with the exception of hydrofluoric, and at high temperatures phosphoric acid. Alkalis will attack the surface of unprotected glass.

Weight
Glass can be deceptively heavy even in relatively small physical sizes. Glass has a density of 2,500 kilograms per cubic meter, making it approximately 2.5 times heavier than the equivalent volume of water and heavier for its size than many other building materials.

Strength
Glass is a strong building material with greater capacity to resist compression than stretching or sudden impact.

Conductivity
Glass is generally a poor conductor of electricity, with volume electrical resistivity of 310,000,000,000 Ωm. Glass is a better conductor of heat.

Light Transmission
Clear glass is not completely transparent, a 6mm-thick pc. of clear float glass will capture around 13-percent of light within the visible spectrum, allowing 87% of the visible light to pass through it.

Temperature Performance

Glass is created at high temperature and will return to liquid form if heated sufficiently. This can be a problem for fire-resistance. Glass products made for fire protection are enhanced with the addition of substrates, laminates and other technologies to maintain rigidity at high temperature.

Other Physical Properties
Other measures include elasticity, resonating frequencies, dielectric constant and a range of other performance properties required for complex engineering and construction purposes.



Types of Glass


Clear Sheet Glass
This is drawn vertically from a tank of molten glass. How fast its drawn determines the thickness. It is used for ordinary glazing as well as better and special quality products i.e. for doors of cupboards, pictures.

Polished Plate Glass
This is a roughcast glass that is ground and polished to produce an undistorted finish. It is used for general glazing, high-class work and silvering for mirrors. The thick types of this class may also be used for load bearing functions such as shelves and tabletops.

Float Glass
Molten glass is floated on a bed of molten tin, which gives a very flat undistorted finish.

Wired Polished Plate
This has a wire mesh incorporated within it. If the glass breaks the wire holds it together. It has some fire resisting qualities.

Tempered Glass
This is made by heating and suddenly cooling the glass. It tempers the glass giving a more flexible, impact resistant glass. It is used for doors, balustrades etc.

Laminated Glass
This is two or more layers of glass usually with a plastic film between, which the glass adheres to if broken. It is used in various grades and thickness, from safety in high impact areas, to anti-bandit types of glass that may resist intentional attack such as gunfire or hammer impact.

Patterned Glass
This refers to translucent glass that has linear or geometric patterns embossed usually on one and sometimes both sides.

Tinted Glass.
The glass is semi-coloured to absorb solar radiation / reduce glare and to reduce heat build up. Bronze, grey or blue / green in colour, it reduces light transmission.

Reflective Glass.
A transparent metal coating is applied to the surface of the glass to reduce the amount of solar energy passing through it. 

Insulating Glass. Two layers of glass are separated by a hermetically sealed airspace to provide thermal insulation and restrict condensation.




Citations:
Website:
Glass (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. Retrived from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glass (Merriam-Websters,1828)

Glass (2016). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 1, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2016)

Glass(n.d.) Retrieved July 1,2016 from http://prointeriordesigner.com/construction/glass/ (Dezine Holding Ltd., 2016)


Physical Properties of Glass (2011) Retrieved July 1,2016 from https://glasstalks.com/2011/03/16/physicalproperties/ (Wordpress.com,2016)

 Photos:
A Reception Desk Made by Stacking Layers of Glass [online image]. Retrieved Jul 1, 2016 from http://www.designrulz.com/design/2015/01/reception-desk-made-stacking-layers-glass/ (DesignRulz, 2016)

Ramon Todo [online image]. Retrieved Jul 1, 2016 from http://blog.littlepaperplanes.com/ramon-todo/ (Nayeli Nava,2014)

Taking Time [online image]. Retrieved March 05, 2016 from http://brokenliquid.com/taking-time (Ben Young 2016)


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3 comments

  1. UnknownJuly 7, 2016 at 6:37 AM

    thanks for this blog this explains us well the different kinds of glass and their characteristics. in applying interior what are the things that we need to avoid or the things that is not good for glass?

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  2. group01 ferrous metalJuly 7, 2016 at 4:20 PM

    Glass had been a very useful material that had played a big role in industrialization, influencing innovation in modernism. With its proven characteristic that could create a timeless piece of art has appraised many thoughts of its endless modification into ingenious commodity. Yet this innovation had disregarded the disadvantages of this material. Producers and consumers had overlooked the origins of these produced goods, mainly just focused of that said innovation. This manufactured product caused energy consumption resulting to green house gas emissions and might result to scarcity. Thus the outgrowth of this material benefiting the society equalized the bad effects it results to the environment?

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  3. Non-FerrousiousJuly 8, 2016 at 2:15 AM

    Thank you for sharing your knowledge on the different types of glass and its characteristics. But I do have a question for you, can you tell me how glass is made and what happens to the raw materials when glass is made too?

    ReplyDelete