Glass bottle
A glass bottle is a bottle created from glass. Glass bottles can vary in size considerably, but are most commonly found in sizes ranging between about 10ml and 5 litres.
The history of glass can be traced back to at least 12,000 BC where glass coated objects have been found.[1]
Millions of glass bottles are created worldwide every day. In the US, there is an average of at least two bottle-making factories in each county. It is a highly mechanized process, and the bottles in use now are no longer hand blown as they were in the past.[citation needed]
A glass bottle is 100% recyclable with many new bottles containing glass which was created over 20 years ago. Less energy is used in recycling a glass bottle than creating the glass from raw materials, helping the environment.[2]
When glass bottles of liquid are dropped or subjected to shock, the water hammer effect may cause hydrodynamic glass breakage.[3][4]
Glass bottles manufacturing takes place over several stages. To briefly outline the processes from beginning to end: raw material, melting, forming, annealing, physical inspection, machine & laser inspection, physical inspection (second time), quality control, and finally packing.[5]
To strengthen glass bottles, the process of lamination is sometimes done. Laminated safety glass is made by combining a layer of plastic over glass. When a non-laminated bottle is dropped, the glass breaks sending pieces of glass everywhere. When a laminated bottle is dropped, the glass still breaks, though the outer layer of plastic contains the broken pieces of glass.[1]
Once made, bottles may suffer from internal stresses as a result of unequal, or too rapid, cooling. An annealing oven, or 'lehr' is used to cool glass containers slowly to prevent stress and make the bottle stronger. [6]
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Glass Information". http://www.sks-bottle.com/Glass_Info.html. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
- ^ "Glass Facts". http://www.jarsandbottles-store.co.uk/skin/frontend/default/blank/images/fact-sheet.pdf.
- ^ Saitoh, S (1999). "Water hammer breakage of a glass container". International glass journal (Faenza Editrice,). ISSN 1123-5063.
- ^ Brandt RC; Tressler RE (1994). Fractography of Glass. Plenum Press. ISBN 0-306-44880-7. http://books.google.com/?id=oS6nR9729XUC&pg=PA248&lpg=PA248&dq=bottle+water+hammer.
- ^ "Glass Manufacturing". http://www.silverspurcorp.com/company/articles/glass_bottles_production_manufacturing.html. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ^ "How Glass Bottles are Made". http://www.thomasnet.com/articles/materials-handling/glass-bottles-made. Retrieved 2010-03-09.
[edit] Books, general references
- Soroka, W, "Fundamentals of Packaging Technology", IoPP, 2002, ISBN 1-930268-25-4
- Yam, K. L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-08704-6
