Building materials

Glass
Rajasree vishnu

Kerala PSC Expert

Introduction
• Brittle material
• Glass is a solidified supercooled solution of of number of metallic silicates
• It is amorphous, transparent and transclusent
• Transparent and insulating material because of the absence of free
electrons
• Melting point = 1400 to 1500 degree celcius
• Density of glass is 24.3 KN/m^3

It is classified into 5
1. Soda lime glass / Soda glass /Soft glass / Commercial glass
2. Pottash lime glass / Hard glass / Bohemian glass
3. Pottash lead glass / Flint glass
4. Common glass / Bottle glass
5. Borosilicate glass / Pyrex glass
Soda Lime Glass
• Also known as soft glass or commercial glass
• It is a mixture of sodium silicate and calcium silicate
• Available in clear state
• Easily fusible at very low temperature
• Used in the manufacture of glass tubes and other laboratory apparatus,
plate glass, window glass etc
Potash lime glass
• Also known as hard glass or bohemian glass
• It is a mixture of potassium silicate and calcium silicate
• Fuses at high temperature
• Used in the manufacture of glass articles which have to withstand high
temperature such as combustion tubes etc
Potash lead glass
• Also known as flint glass
• It is a mixture of potassium silicate and lead silicate
• Having bright lusture
• Great refractive index
• Fuses at low temperature
• Used in the manufacture of artificial gems, electric bulb, lenses, prisms etc
Common glass
• Also known as bottle glass
• It is a mixture of sodium silicate and calcium silicate and iron silicate
• Does not fuse easily
• Manufactured by using cheap raw materials
• Used in the manufacture of medicine bottles .
Borosilicate glass
• Also known as pyrex glass
• It is a type of glass with silica (70 to 80%) and boric oxide (7 to 13%) as the
main glass forming constituent
• Very low coefficient of thermal expansion
• Resist high temperature
• Having thermal shock resistance
• Difficult to fuse
• Used as glass fibres
• Used in textile industry
Manufacture of glass
• Collection of raw materials
• Preparation of batch
• Melting in furnace
• Fabrication
• Annealing
 Collection of raw materials
Depending on the type of glass to be manufactured, suitable raw materials are
collected

• Cullet and decolourizers are added in the raw material

• Cullet is the waste glass or broke pieces of glass
• Cullet increase fusibility and decrease alkali loss
• Decolourizers are used to remove the colour from the raw materials
• Commonly used decolourizers are antimony oxide, arsenic oxide, cobalt
oxide, manganese dioxide, nickel oxide
 Preparation of batch
• The raw materials, cullets and decolourizers are finely powdered and
accurately weighted in the correct proportion
• Then they are mixed together to get a uniform mixture known as batch or
frit
 Melting in furnace
• The batch is melted in pot furnace or tank furnace
• Pot furnace – vessel made of fire clay/refractory clay used for small scale
production
• Tank furnace – constructed with reinforced masonry used for large scale
production
 Fabrication
• At this stage molten glass is given suitable shape either by hand or by
machine
• Fabrication can be done in different ways
a. Blowing
b. Casting
c. Drawing
d. Pressing
e. Rolling
f. Spinning
 Annealing
• Process of slow and homogenious cooling of glass articles
• The two methods of annealing are flu treatment and oven treatment
 Special varieties of glass
1. Bullet proof glass
• It is made of several layers of plate glass and alternate layers consist of
venyl resin plastic
• Thickness of bullet proof glass varies from 15 mm to 75 mm
• It will not allow bullets to pierce through it
2. Fiber glass
• Soft and flexible
• Do not absorb water
• High strength to weight ratio
• Used in communication technology, endoscopy, optical fibres, fibre glass
reinforced plastics etc
3. Float glass/plate glass
• The molten glass is allowed to float on the molten tin
• Also called energy efficient glass
• Used for residential building, commercial complexes, furniture articles etc
4. Foam glass
• Prepared by melting the mixture of finely grind glass and carbon
• At the time of melting, this mixture expands and assumes the form a black
foam
• It is fire proof, rigid and excellent heat insulator
• Used as a substitute for cork for use in air conditioning and refrigeration
industries
• Low density, so it floats in water
5. Heat excluding glass / Anti – actinic glass
• This glass allows light to pass through it and it eliminates heat
• Used for windows of coaches of higher class in railways, in window panels
of important buildings
6. Obscured glass
• This glass transmits light and the vision is obscured
• Used in public toilets, office doors, partitions etc

7. Perforated glass
• In this type of glass, perforations are made in sheet glass with the help of
rollers
• Used for panels in ventilators
8. Safety glass
• This glass is formed by placing celluloid sheet b/w plate glass and then
applying glue to make a single unit
• Also known as shatter proof glass or toughened glass
• Used in automobiles

9. Shield glass
• This type of glass contains heavy elements like lead oxide
• It is used for windows through which high radiations is observed
10. Soluble glass
• This glass is soluble in water under normal conditions
• Used for preparing acid resistant cement

11. Structural glass

• Also known as glass bricks
• Widely used for pavement lights, partitions, lantern lights etc
12. Ultra violet ray glass
• This glass transmits effectively ultra violet rays even though it is not in the
direction of sun
• Widely used in windows of schools, hospitals etc

13. Wired glass

• In this glass, steel wire mesh is placed in b/w plate glass during rolling
operation
• Used for roofs, fire resisting doors and windows
14. Alkali barium silicate glass
• It is a soft glass that is excellent for glass to metal sealing
• Used in TV’s to filter X-rays

15. Alumino silicate glass

• Resist high temp upto 750 degree celcius
• Used in halogen lamps, compression tubes, steam boilers
Wired glass is prepared by embedding wire-
netting in glass plate during

A Manufacture B Heating

C Rolling D Preparation
 Bullet proof glass is made of thick glass
sheet sandwiched by a layer of

A Steel B Stainless steel

C venyl resin plastic D chromium steel

 Pottash lead glass is also known as

A flint glass B soft glass

C Hard glass D Bottle glass

 The main ingredient in the manufacture of
glass is

A Lime B Soda

C Silica D Pottash
 Glass used in making wind screen of car

A vita glass B laminated glass

C plate glass D wired glass