As with most other manufactured products, good quality cannot be inspired into a glass container. It must be built into the container during the manufacturing operation. To help achieve this, it is important that the men operating the forming machines be informed as soon as possible not only of those situations where the quality has deteriorated to such an extent that the containers have to be rejected at the end of the annealing lehr, but also of those situations where there is a trend towards sub-standard quality. The more precise the information that can be given to the machine operators regarding the exact nature of the defect, the quicker the situation can be remedied. There are several reasons why broken glass is examined. The purpose of this paper is to show how simple fracture analysis can be used on the shop floor to pinpoint the origins of defects.
