Pointers for research and development in the glass container industry
article
The present and prospective situation of the glass container industry in the European Community is surveyed with regard to total production, market shares, percentage of returnables, recycling schemes, etc. The influence of the policies of the various governments related to packaging is discussed and anticipated trends are indicated. It is shown that the future of the glass container industry will depend on its ability to develop high-quality lightweight containers, and to achieve cost reduction by increasing production efficiency. After a discussion on minimum quality requirements for glass containers, with special reference to strength, a survey is given of those research areas which, in the author's opinion, can be considered the most critical for safeguarding the future of the glass container industry. These include studies of the effects of rheology and microheterogeneities on workability, reduction of surface defect formation during forming, further optimization of surface treatments to reduce or even prevent abrasion and the development of numerical approximation methods to relate impact resistance to design, wall thickness and glass distribution.
TNO Identifier
230176
ISSN
00223093
Source
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 87(3), pp. 366-375.
Publisher
Elsevier
Place of publication
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Pages
366-375
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