Glass always gets a bad reputation for two perceived deficiencies: Its' heavy and its breakable. People often prefer not to have a glass bottle or cup because they are afraid they might drop and break it. Or, they say its easier to work with a lighter-weight product. These criticisms apply to many glass products, whether it is bottles, or architectural designs. However, in the materials community, we know that glass is actually very strong. We hear and say all the time, "Glass is actually stronger than steel." The reality is, we have all seen a table of theoretical vs usable strength of glass, but know that once glass articles are made, everything done to them decreases the strength. In that end, glass articles have about 0.5% of the material's intrinsic strength. This article takes an in-depth look at the different ways various glass types can be strengthened and also shows a case study on building an industry-university-government coalition, which was presented by Lou Mattos at the 2011 Ceramic Leadership Summit.
