Definition of a glass defect: “A glass defect is an enclosure in a glass object with different optical and/or other properties”
Glass faults or defects are inherent to the glass production process. Glass melting is a complex process and it is often impossible to create the ideal conditions for “smooth” glass melting. Technologists have to cope with several issues, like raw materials, “strange” cullet, refractory corrosion (i.e. degradation of the materials the glass tank is composed of), and much more.
A glass defect can originate from many different sources like disturbances in the melting process, devitrification or corrosion of refractory material. In order to identify the source of a glass defect, a broad range of inspection techniques can be used.
Analysis of the defects in combination with operational data can be valuable to decrease or eliminate the number of defects.