Glass breakages can be detrimental to both manufacturers and food and drink brands. Not only can they hold up production, but they can lead to product recalls and even pose a risk to consumers.
So when a glass spontaneously breaks, how do you determine the cause?
It all comes down to this equation:
Stress / force + an origin / weakening feature = failure
If there is a significant weakening feature (scratch, defect, etc), then only a small stress will be required for the glass to break. Alternatively, if there is no significant weakening feature, then a very large stress or force will be required for breakage.
Knowing this information gives an indication of how the glass broke, which is essential for your investigation. So next time you have a breakage, pause and consider:
- Did the glass have any significant weakening features?
- Or was it that the glass was as good as it could be, but it got exposed to an extremely large stress that caused failure?
This content is just a snippet from Glass Technology Services‘ new “Introduction to glass packaging breakages” e-learning short course that’s due to launch very soon.
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