Glass & Ceramics

Leveraging Exponent's multidisciplinary knowledge to understand failure in ceramic and glass materials

Ceramics and glass offer a diverse range of applications, from fired clay materials like bricks and tableware to float glass windows and pressed or blown glassware to advanced materials that enable consumer electronics, telecommunications, and energy storage. Regardless of the use, performance challenges can occur when variables in design, manufacturing, material compatibility, and service environment degrade component properties. 

Exponent's ceramics and glass consultants leverage decades of experience in materials research, product development, and failure analysis to solve performance issues through services such as material selection, reliability assessment, process optimization, and technology evaluation. We offer extensive support in dispute resolution involving glass or ceramic products and components, and we provide unique insights into how to avoid problems early in the design cycle and how to diagnose the root causes of component underperformance.

As experts in the prevention and analysis of material failures in all types of ceramic and glass applications, we help clients analyze safety glass/glazing in buildings (e.g., insulating glass units, curtainwalls, balustrades) and vehicles (e.g., windshields, sunroofs, glass dashboards); identify defects in glass packaging (e.g., bottles, jars, vials) for food and pharmaceutical products; investigate the performance of glass and ceramics in medical devices and consumer products; analyze the fracture of ceramic whitewares and electrical insulators; and resolve processing challenges with ceramic substrates used in microelectronics packaging.