Crafted since the beginning of civilization and industrialized for centuries, glass is a material which constantly evolves. Every year technology develops new glass products and processes. Many of them are used to make traditional products more attractive, enjoyable and safer to use. Glass also has a tremendous future in the hi-tech industrial sectors such as energy production and management, air and water purification, IT and telecoms.
The U.S. glass industry is among the world leaders in production and technology. Cooperative R&D on innovative technologies to improve energy efficiency will help assure continued success.
The U.S. glass industry is participating with the Department of Energy’s Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) in a collaborative strategy called “Industries of the Future”. Together, the Industrial Technologies Program and the U.S. glass industry have entered a public-private partnership, set a vision for the Glass Industry of the Future, defined R&D priorities in a technology roadmap, prepared several analytical studies, developed a portfolio of innovative R&D to address high-priority, pre-competitive needs, expanded tools and resources available to the glass industry and accelerated progress toward major technology improvements.
Technology & Conservation, the MIT Department of Architecture’s Building Technology Program and the Boston Society of Architects/AIA’s Historic Resources Committee is hosting a conference and training program on glass and glazing. “Glass & Glazing in the 21st Century” will focus on developments in architectural glasses for structural, energy saving and decorative uses in new building facades, envelopes and monuments, as well as their application in the restoration and upgrading of existing structures.
Among the topics to be discussed are: the basic material properties of glass; the role of thermal, mechanical, structural, and chemical properties on performance and durability; the effects of environmental conditions; how these material characteristics and interactions need to be considered in specifying glass for new designs and for restoration/preservation projects; new developments in manufacturing and fabrication operations and in construction techniques; strategies for determining and evaluating deterioration and procedures for replicating historic appearance; and viable approaches to preservation/maintenance planning, facilities management, and repair/replacement programs, for both old and new structures.
Researchers at universities are looking at using ultrathin glass spheres as a hydrogen storage device for automobiles that’s cheaper, more reliable and safer than metal tanks. The miniature glass spheres, known as microspheres, “are a much safer method for transporting hydrogen,” says Jim Shelby, project leader and professor of ceramic engineering at Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y.
Under certain conditions, a metal can also form as a glass, possessing properties that make it ideal for electric transformers, golf clubs and other products. To scientists, a glass is any material that can be cooled from a liquid to a solid without crystallizing. Most metals do crystallize as they cool, arranging their atoms into a highly regular spatial pattern called a lattice. But if crystallization does not occur, and the atoms settle into a nearly random arrangement, the final form is a metallic glass.
One of the most abundant and recognizable materials on the planet, glass continues to evolve beyond its transparent boundaries.
