Presentation
Glass is a solid amorphous material formed by the progressive solidification of a viscous liquid, obtained by the fusion of crystal minerals.
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Glass
The Glass Fusion
Glass is obtained by fusion in a very high temperature furnace of an homogenous mixture of minerals (vitrifiable mixture), called primary materials, which are mixed in appropriate proportions in weight, and glass scraps.
Primary Materials
Silica (SiO2, silicone dioxide) is the most common moulder of the vitreous lattice and is therefore the most important primary material for glass production.
Blast furnaces
We know nothing or very little about blast furnaces before the invention of the blow-rod in the 1st century B.C.
Annealing Furnaces
Shaped glass (blown, moulded etc.) retains high temperature (500-600°C) and do not resist rapid spontaneous cooling.
Types of Glass
Glass also exists in a natural state. The most common one is obsidian, a dark shiny material, which is very hard, formed in volcanic rocks and which man learnt to produce to make objects (blades, arrow-heads, etc.) over one million years ago.
Artistic Glass and Glass Handicraft
Techniques
Paths through the Secrects of Glass art
Industrial Glass
Flat Glass
The need to shield a window with transparent material, was the reason that led to the production of glass sheets, starting right back from the Roman era. Sheets of small dimensions, no …
Glass Tubes
In modern technology, the glass tube has varied uses of notable importance, so it is considered one of the fundamental products for glassworks production.The tube and the glass rod (which is…
Special Glass
In addition to types of glass produced in large industrial firms, other types, which we call 'special', are available on the market. They are used in fields which are different based on …
Glass Fibre
Molten glass lends itself perfectly to be easily stretched into continuous filaments or short fibres (staples or glass wool): this has been known since its invention. Despite this, the …
Glass and Environment
Glass collection and recycling
In Italy, the consumption by the glass industry of scraps of glass from separation of solid urban waste (ecological scraps), is about one million tons a year. These scraps, appropriately …