‘Spot the break’ more fun than ‘spot the ball’

Spotting the break – or, more precisely, finding the fracture origin in glass – is more fun than the traditional ‘Spot the ball’ competition.

Back in the dark ages – yes, that’s right, the 1970s – a popular working class pastime was ‘doing the pools’.? This involved men and women – but, as it was the seventies, mostly men – spending a few pence each week on the opportunity to predict the outcome of 10 or 11 matches from that weekend’s British football fixtures.? If they were fortunate enough to correctly find 8 score draws – no boring goalless draws, thank you very much – they could be elevated to Viv ‘Spend Spend Spend’ Nicholson fame.? An extra complexity occurred in the summer months, when British teams were replaced with their Australian counterparts, often with odd-sounding place names.

Supplementary to the weekly pools coupon, there was a ‘spot the ball’ competition, which comprised of little more than a grainy black and white photograph of an inconsequential First Division match – yes, younger readers, football did exist before the Premier League - with the key element removed.? The challenge for the poor punter was to guess where the ball might be.? Helpfully (or not), additional match details were provided, such as the weather conditions.? Not to encourage child gambling – please gamble responsibly, if at all – but my Nan would occasionally allow me to utilise my (ahem) extensive football knowledge to place a few Xs on the coupon.? I don’t know how true this is, but I was later told that the winning entry may not correspond to the actual position of the ball in the match, with soccer pundits having to agree on where the ball might have been and not where it was.? Needless to say, neither I nor my Nan ever won the dreamed of millions and here I am in the glass industry.

However, colleagues in the glass industry can have far more success – and more fun! – in locating the break in fractured glass.? By inspecting the surface pattern of a broken glass, follow the branching of the cracks often leads back to the origin.? If analysing the glass edge, the presence of Wallner lines, rib-like curved lines on the crack surface, can provide important clues. These lines are usually concave in the direction in which the crack is running and can be frequently traced back to the source.

The chances of success can be improved by attending the Pilkington Fractography course, which we run once or twice a year at the NSG European Technical at Lathom in Lancashire.? On this course, customers can gain an appreciation of what to look for when investigating glass fractures and help in determining likely causes of breakage.

Although we have no more Fractography courses scheduled for 2024, we are in the process of scheduling the dates for next year.? In advance of the dates being confirmed, customers can register their interest by completing the online application form available via www.pilkington.co.uk/productknowledge

Setting aside the fun 70s references, there is a serious side to Fractography.? Being able to determine the cause of glass breakage can help to resolve disputes – which, if left unresolved, can be energy-sapping and time-consuming – and find solutions to prevent future occurrences.