Decorative Glass Research Articles

Hiroshima neutron fluence on a glass button from near ground zero.

A decorative glass button that was uncovered at a location that is 190 +/- 15 m from directly beneath the atomic explosion at Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 has been scanned for induced fission tracks produced mostly by the thermal neutrons from the bomb due to interactions with the trace uranium that is normally present in silicate glasses. In surveying 4.14 cm2 at 500x magnification, 28 tracks were seen. From a calibration irradiation in a nuclear reactor we infer that the neutron fluence in 1945 was 5.7(+/-1.1) x 10(11) cm(-2); and, allowing for shielding by the structure in which the button was probably located, the free-air (i.e., outside) value is estimated as 1.5(+/-0.5) x 10(12) cm(-2). A limit has been placed on possible fading of the radiation-damage tracks that could increase the fluence by at most a factor of 1.27. The values bracket the calculated value of 9 x 10(11) given in DS86 but are higher than the 3.6 x 10(11) inferred from induced radionuclides for the distance given. The difference is, however, within the observed variability of the two types of results.

Like a Cold Knife Through Anything

This article highlights that one of the most accurate industrial cutting blades is a thousandth-of-an-inch supersonic jet of water carrying abrasive particles to a target surface. Waterjets cut simple or complex shapes from steel, glass, plastic, composites, paper, or fabric, without causing the thermal or mechanical distortions associated with mechanical saws. Recovering the abrasive is the mission of the WaterVeyor system developed by Flow International Corp. The WaterVeyor lets waterjet cutters recycle garnet abrasives, thereby reducing waste disposal costs and the cost of purchasing virgin abrasive. Although industrial waterjets are strong enough to shear steel plate, they are also delicate enough to carve decorative glass, where the appearance of the finished product is as important as throughput.

Spectrum of belief: Joseph von Fraunhofer and the craft of precision optics

In the nineteenth century, scientific practice underwent a dramatic transformation from personal endeavor to business enterprise. In Spectrum of Belief, Myles Jackson explores this transformation through a sociocultural history of the rise of precision optics in Germany. He uses the career of the optician Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787-1826) to probe the relationship between science and society, and between artisans and experimental natural philosophers, during this important transition.Fraunhofer came from a long line of glassmakers. Orphaned at age eleven, the young apprentice moved in with his master, the court decorative glass cutter. At age nineteen, bored with his work and angered by his master's refusal to allow him to study optical theory, Fraunhofer took a position at the Optical Institute assisting in the manufacture of achromatic lenses. Within ten years he was producing the world's finest achromatic lenses and prisms.Housed in an old Benedictine monastery, Fraunhofer's laboratory mirrored the labor of the monks. Because of his secrecy (after his death, even those who had worked most closely with him could not achieve his success), British experimental natural philosophers were unable to reproduce his work. This secrecy, while guaranteeing his institute's monopoly, thwarted Fraunhofer's attempts to gain credibility within the scientific community, which looked down on artisanal work and its clandestine practices as an affront. The response to the ensuing rise of German optical technology sheds light on crucial social, economic, and political issues of the period, such as mechanization, patent law reform, the role of skills in both physics and society, the rise of Mechanics' Institutes, and scientific patronage. After his death, Fraunhofer's example was used in the newly united Germany to argue for the merging of scientific research and technological innovation with industrial and state support.

Low-Melting Coatings for Glass Decoration

The optimum titanium-bearing lead-free glass compositions have been developed for producing low-melting white coatings on sheet glass. The properties of glasses and coatings and their structure and phase composition are studied. The optimum conditions for the formation of coatings are determined.

Specifics of synthesis of soluble glass using sodium sulfate

Soluble glass is synthesized using sodium sulfate. Decorative glass ceramic materials are made on its basis. This paper considers the results of x-ray phase analysis and thermodynamic calculations of the redox reactions of sodium sulfite formation, as well as data on physicomechanical and color testing of the produced composite materials.

Decoration of glass and glass articles using the plasma-spraying method

Results of a study of plasma spraying of glass powders on glass substrates are described. It is demonstrated that decorative plasma treatment of glassware produces a coating of a granular structure with good consumer properties.

Nanometer sized particles for viscosity controlled binders for silk screen printing

A water based synthesis route to PbOSiO 2B 2O 3ZnO gels and glasses has been developed. In the present study the gel was used for the substitution of organic silk screen printing media and additives in a silk screen printing paste for the decoration of glass with a black enamel. Interparticle forces of the gel particles can control the viscosity of a paste, containing 30 wt% of the wet gel and 70 wt% of a commercially available black enamel powder. Beside the rheology controlling function, a consequence of polycondensation of the gel during drying of the printed pastes is, that the sol—gel material acts as a binder. The composition of the gel ensured that during firing the sol—gel material is densified to a glass with properties suitable for the firing process at temperatures between 560°C and 640°C. Because of the particular inorganic gel which was used, no residual organic groups have to be removed during firing.

97/02801 Decorative glass made from fly ash

97/02801 Decorative glass made from fly ash

Decorative glass materials based on technogenic waste from karelia

Shaping of glass materials using liquation and crystallization processes in composite systems containing titanium and chromium oxides is considered. The decorative and physicochemical properties of the developed glass materials are suitable for industrial purposes.

Sound barrier absorption panel

First Page

Conservation of Glass

Includes a complete chemical examination of the causes of the deterioration of glass, discusses the possibilities of damage by conservation techniques that have not been fully tested, and provides the theoretical background and the practical procedures used in conserving different kinds of glass. Contents: introduction; the nature of glass; historical development of glass; technology of glass production: methods and materials; furnaces and melting techniques; deterioration of glass; materials used for glass conservation; technical examination of glass; conservation of glass; archaeological and decorative glass, painted window glass; sources of information. -- AATA

Transparent colors for glass decoration

The modern production of decorative glassware requires nontraditional methods of decoration, with the use of new materials. These include transparent colors that are widely used for the regular production of general tableware, souvenirs made of glass tubing, light screens, glass blocks, stained glass, etc. The basis of such colors is a range of organic compounds containing film-formers, platicizers, solvents and pigments, which are added in amounts of 0.5% (on 100% of the basic composition; here and subsequently mass contents are indicated). During the blending of these compositions in the optimum ratios and after application to the glassware, stable decorative coatings are formed that can be secured at temperatures of not above 300~

Degradable plastics

The composition of 2977 Late Prehistoric glass objects was investigated to derive information on the nature of the colourants used. 2673 Late Iron Age Celtic (La Tène) bracelet fragments from the Netherlands and Austria and 51 Early Iron Age beads from the Netherlands were analysed. Hand-held XRF analyses demonstrated that all glass objects were of the soda-silica-lime type, which has a presumed origin in the Eastern Mediterranean. Copper was used as colourant, in the form of copper filings, in most of the Early Iron Age glass beads to give recycled glass a blue-green colour.The vast majority (98%) of the translucent Iron Age glass, was coloured using cobalt (blue), manganese (purple; colourless), antimony (colourless) and iron (green). Manganese, however, was added to all glass, contributing additional amounts of elements like copper, cobalt and iron. Opaque decorations were produced using antimony, or a combination of tin and lead.REE analyses on a selection of representative objects indicate that the manganese ores in translucent glass are of hydrogenetic-diagenetic (Early Iron Age) or hydrothermally influenced diagenetic (Late Iron Age) types. Strontium isotope ratios show mixing between a calcite-related seawater source (0.709) and manganese ores with isotope ratios of ∼0.70766. Lead isotope ratios are dominated by colourant-derived Pb. The isotope ratios of the manganese used to produce translucent glass and lead used for opaque glass decorations fall in the same range. The most likely general provenance of both lies on Lavrion or the Western Cycladic Islands, although an origin in the central Taurus or the Sinai mountains cannot be excluded. The conclusion is that manganese ore used for colourants contributes significantly to the REE concentration in the glass, including Nd, as well as to Sr and Pb. This needs to be taken into account when using concentrations or isotope ratios of these elements for provenancing other raw materials like sand and calcium carbonate. This appears to be the case for all antique soda-lime-silica glass.

Nylon fibres in rubber

The composition of 2977 Late Prehistoric glass objects was investigated to derive information on the nature of the colourants used. 2673 Late Iron Age Celtic (La Tène) bracelet fragments from the Netherlands and Austria and 51 Early Iron Age beads from the Netherlands were analysed. Hand-held XRF analyses demonstrated that all glass objects were of the soda-silica-lime type, which has a presumed origin in the Eastern Mediterranean. Copper was used as colourant, in the form of copper filings, in most of the Early Iron Age glass beads to give recycled glass a blue-green colour.The vast majority (98%) of the translucent Iron Age glass, was coloured using cobalt (blue), manganese (purple; colourless), antimony (colourless) and iron (green). Manganese, however, was added to all glass, contributing additional amounts of elements like copper, cobalt and iron. Opaque decorations were produced using antimony, or a combination of tin and lead.REE analyses on a selection of representative objects indicate that the manganese ores in translucent glass are of hydrogenetic-diagenetic (Early Iron Age) or hydrothermally influenced diagenetic (Late Iron Age) types. Strontium isotope ratios show mixing between a calcite-related seawater source (0.709) and manganese ores with isotope ratios of ∼0.70766. Lead isotope ratios are dominated by colourant-derived Pb. The isotope ratios of the manganese used to produce translucent glass and lead used for opaque glass decorations fall in the same range. The most likely general provenance of both lies on Lavrion or the Western Cycladic Islands, although an origin in the central Taurus or the Sinai mountains cannot be excluded. The conclusion is that manganese ore used for colourants contributes significantly to the REE concentration in the glass, including Nd, as well as to Sr and Pb. This needs to be taken into account when using concentrations or isotope ratios of these elements for provenancing other raw materials like sand and calcium carbonate. This appears to be the case for all antique soda-lime-silica glass.

Fusion of glasses containing ceria and titania

Colourful. decorative glasses containing ceria and titania were prepared in this research. The transmissivities of the glass samples were measured in the visible wavelength range from 350 to 700 nm and the position of these glasses on the CIE (International Commission on Illumination) colour chart was deduced. A mechanism for the colour generation by a mixture of ceria and titania was put forward. It was shown that, for the composition used in this research, the colour of the glass varied continuously from yellow to orange when the absorption peak around 350 nm shifted to longer wavelengths as the ratio of ceria to titania decreased. The change in the ratios of Ti 4+ to Ti 3+ and Ce 3+ to Ce 4+ caused the absorption peak to shift to longer wavelengths and to overlap the visible wavelength range.

On geometrical problems of automatic glass grinding

This paper describes aspects of a microprocessor based CAD/CAM system for the automatic manufacture of decorative ground glass objects. In particular, a new interpolation method is described for the design of free-form curves on a rotational surface. This method satisfies all geometric and technological requirements and can be implemented in an NC controller. Details are also given of a highly efficient algorithm for determining the step length for machining. This algorithm does not involve iteration and guarantees to give the required accuracy; furthermore, its deviation from the optimum solution is strictly limited.

The restoration of decorative flat glass: Four case histories

Report on the restoration of antique wall mirrors and of reverse-painted glass panels. The dismantling of the mirrors, the removal of old tapes and glues, the consolidation of breaks, and their remounting after repair are described. The technique used for retouching the missing areas of an english painting is given. The removal and cleaning of painted glass panels from a spanish ebony and tortoise-shell cabinet are also described. Bibliography.

Decorative glass and its optical design

Venetian decorative glass is discussed in both its historical and technical aspects, with illustrative examples of the art.

Laser decoration of glass

The article deals about the technology of laser decoration of glass. The functional description of laser decoration unit realized in our glass plant is briefly spoken about. The unit is suitable for the decoration of axi-symmetric objects from glass, ceramics, wood, synthetic plastics resp. An average time per one laser beam required for the decoration of one glass sample / cup / is approximately ten seconds.

New museum of decorative glass

New museum of decorative glass