How should pharmaceutical glass suppliers and drug manufacturers evaluate new technologies for vials and syringes? Learn more in our free upcoming e-Seminar. AGR’s 

Dr. Brandon Aldinger will be conducting a free 30-minute e-Seminar May 30 at 9 AM EDT, on “Applying Glass Fractography to the Evaluation of Novel Glass Parenteral Technologies”.

From flaw identification to breaking stress measurement, fracture analysis can yield insights into technology development, line handling, and flaw severity for the next generation of pharma packaging. If you need help with your pharmaceutical glass container breakage, please join in our free e-seminar with Dr. Aldinger. Learn more in our just released Q2 e-News Blast and how to join the livestream.

Read our just released case study on the Failure of Filled Bottles during Warehouse Storage…After being filled with a carbonated liquid, a number of 12 fluid ounce capacity non-refillable beverage containers were found broken in the warehouse within two days of filling. Open our Q2 e-Newsletter for the full case study HERE. 

Congratulations go out to Dr. Brandon Aldinger and Brad Salitrik for this award winning image taken on our JEOL IT-300LV Scanning Electron Microscope.  The image “Sunny-Side Up Egg” was selected as the winner for the month of January 2024 in the JEOL USA Image Contest.  With some color added for interest, this photomicrograph of an embedded material particle closely resembles a classic breakfast delight. The particle was inadvertently deposited inside a glass food jar during formation while the glass was still red-hot. The yellow 'yolk' in the image corresponds to an area enriched in tin, while the 'whites' correspond to areas that were bubbled and cracked due to reactions with the surrounding glass. Embedded particles on the interior of a glass container lower its strength; therefore, determining the composition of particles is the first step in eliminating the source of the contaminants.

What caused the carafe to fracture?

Were the applied tensile stresses too high or was the glass surface strength too low?

Read the case study in our recently released Q1 e-Newsletter to learn our conclusions on this breakage event here. 

Patience became a member of our team at the end of 2023. She will work with project leaders in the preparation of final reports and billing.  In addition, she manages the research library and data storage.  She has a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Maryland.

Prior to joining AGR, she served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years. While on active duty, she served aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier. As a native of western Pennsylvania, she enjoys hiking with her family, fishing, and crocheting. Welcome to the American Glass Research family Patience. 

How do you know whether the cause of breakage in this non-refillable 12-ounce bottle was due to the tensile stresses being too high or whether the glass strengths were too low?

Read our just released case study entitled “Problems with Aluminum Metal in the Cullet Stream” in our Q4 e-Newsletter .