Forensic Analysis of Glass

Forensic Examination of Glass

• Goals in examining glass evidence:

– Determine the types of glass at the scene
– Determine how the glass was fractured
– Use physical characteristics to classify it
– Individualize the glass to a source

• Compare physical and chemical characteristics:

– Optical properties: color and refractive index
– Non-optical properties: surface wear, striations
from manufacturing, thickness, surface film or
dirt, hardness, density
– Chemical properties: additives or trace elements
 What is Glass?
• Fusion of sand (SiO2), soda (Na2CO3) & lime (CaO)
that produces a transparent solid when cooled.
• A 3D network of atoms which lacks the repeated,
orderly arrangement typical of crystalline materials.

• Physical properties: hard, elastic, brittle, non-

conductor of electricity, density, refractive index, etc.
• Chemical: resistant to all but fluorine and very strong
bases.
 What Types of Glass Are There?
The primary uses for glass are in windows,
containers, light bulbs and eyewear.

• Borosilicate Glass (pyrex): 5% borax (Na2B4O7) is

added to resist breaking when heated or cooled.

• Colored Glass: metal oxides or colloidal iron (Fe) &

sulfur (S) are added to change its color.

• Lead glass: Pb increases refractive index & density

What Types of Glass Are There?
• Flat glass: made by a “float glass process”;
molten glass is floated on a pool of tin while
cooling. Commonly found in doors and windows.

• Laminated glass: used in windshields, two sheets

of glass with plastic between them.

• Tempered safety glass: used in car side windows

and designed to break into tiny pieces; potassium
(K) replaces sodium (Na) on the surface.
 How Do Glass Windows Break?
• Each force causes a deformation that may leave a
visible mark or fracture the glass. This can be used
to determine the direction and amount of force.

• Glass acts initially as an elastic surface and bends

away when a force is applied. When the force
increases beyond its tensile strength, it cracks.
 How Does Glass Break?

• Radial cracks form first and are propagated in

short segments on the side opposite the force.
• Concentric cracks come later from continued
pressure on the same side as the force applied.
 How Does Glass Break?
• Edges of broken pieces of glass will show
rib (“stress”) marks.

• In a radial crack, the rib marks are

perpendicular to unloaded side and
parallel to loaded side. The arrow shows
the side that received the impact.

• 3R rule:
– Radial cracks give rib marks that make
– Right angles on the
– Reverse side from where the force was
applied
 Exceptions to the Three R Rule

Tempered glass
“dices” without forming ridges

Very small windows held tightly in frame

can’t bend or bulge appreciably

Windows broken by heat or explosion

no “point of impact”
curved, smooth edges at break points
Types of Fractures by Projectiles
• Bullets are a projectile force (load) that can pass
through glass.
– Load side is the entrance side; unloaded side is
the exit side.
– Low-speed projectiles: rib marks may indicate
where breaking force was applied
– As the bullet’s velocity increases, the central hole
becomes smaller, cracking patterns become
simpler, and the exit hole becomes wider than the
entrance hole.
 Fractures by Projectiles
Which side was the bullet fired from?
Exit (unloaded) side
is wider than entry
(load) side.

•Stress lines on the glass edge of radial cracks form a

right angle on the reverse side from the force.
•Stress lines on the glass edge of concentric cracks
form a right angle on the same side as the force.
 Which Bullet Hole Was First?

• The sequence of impacts can be determined since

crack propagation is stopped by earlier cracks.

In the figure above, which impact occurred first?

 Putting it Back Together Again?
• Examiners can fit together two or more pieces of
glass that were broken from the same object.
• Because glass is amorphous, no two glass objects
will break the same way.
 Learning Check

In the figure below & left, which impact occurred

first?

In the figure above & right, from which side did the
impact occur?
 Hit and Run
• If glass fragment are found, investigators the
headlight lens with which the car is equipped
• Each fragment must be properly labeled to avoid
confusion.
 Broken Window
• According to the penal law, the mode of entrance
must be determined before it classified as robbery
• Necessary to collect and piece together as much of
the glass in order to study the pattern of the cracks
and the original position of the pieces
 Glass Transfer Evidence

• When glass objects are broken, glass

flies backward from all parts of the
object where cracks appear not just
from point of impact.

• This creates a shower of minute glass

particles and a transfer of evidence.

• Glass fragment comparison depends

finding and measuring properties that
will associate one glass fragment with
another while eliminating other
sources.
 Collection of Glass Samples
• The glass fragments should be packaged in boxes
to avoid further breakage.

• If evidence is to be examined for glass fragments, it

should be taken whole and each item individually
wrapped in paper and boxed.

• If even the remotest possibility exists that glass

fragments may be pieced together, every effort
must be made to collect all glass fragments.

• Submit glass evidence along with a representative

sample of each type of glass from the crime scene.
 Forensic Examination of Glass

• Goals in examining glass evidence:

– Determine the types of glass at the scene
– Determine how the glass was fractured
– Use physical characteristics to classify it
– Individualize the glass to a source

• Compare physical and chemical characteristics:

– Optical properties: color and refractive index
– Non-optical properties: surface wear, striations
from manufacturing, thickness, surface film or
dirt, hardness, density
– Chemical properties: additives or trace elements
 Optical Properties of Glass

Make side-by-side comparisons using similar-

sized fragments.

Place samples on a white surface using natural

light.

Use both fluorescent and incandescent light to

determine the glass’s color.

Visual color analysis is very subjective.

Dyes and pigments can be almost impossible to

extract.
 Nonoptical Physical Properties of
Glass
• Surface striations and markings
– Rollers leave parallel ream marks on sheet glass
– Markings may indicate the glass’s orientation
when pieces are missing
– Surface scratches, etchings, and other markings
may also be used to individualize evidence

• Other Properties
– Hardness=5-6 on Mohs scale; use a scratch test.
– Determinations of curvature can distinguish flat
glass from container, decorative, or ophthalmic.
Forensic Analysis of Glass
Quantitative Properties of Glass
 Why Measure Density?
• Can be used as a screening technique with large
numbers of fragments.

• Useful in identifying multiple sources present in the

known and/or questioned samples.

• It is nondestructive and an intensive property (not

dependant on sample mass).

• Need to measure very precisely in parts per

hundred or thousand or better.
 Glass Density
• Density can be measured by:
• directly determining mass and
volume (usually by displacement)
• comparison by flotation
• comparison using a density gradient
column

• Density gradient column method:

• Fragments of different densities
settle at different levels in the
column of liquid of varying density.
• Technique is not accurate for
fragments that are cracked or
contain an inclusion.
 Density by the Flotation Method
• A glass particle is immersed in a liquid. The density
of the liquid is adjusted by the addition of small
amounts of another liquid until the glass chip
remains suspended.

• At this point, the glass will have the same density

as the liquid medium and can be compared to other
relevant pieces of glass which will remain
suspended, sink, or float.
 Why Measure Refractive Index?
• Refractive index: ratio of the velocity of light in a
vacuum to the velocity of light in any other medium

• For example, at 25oC the refractive index of water is

1.333. This means that light travels 1.333 times
faster in a vacuum than it does in water.

• Like density, refractive index is an intensive

property but it can be measured very precisely
(±0.0002) and does not destroy the sample.

• Refractive index of glass varies with small changes

in composition or by how it is manufactured.
 Snell’s Law

N=1.52 N=1.33

The higher the n, the more the light bends

Refractive Index By Immersion
 Refractive Index By Immersion

• Immersing a glass particle in a liquid medium

(silicone oil) whose refractive index can varied with
temperature until it is equal to that of the glass
particle.

• At this point, known as the match point, the Becke

line disappears and minimum contrast between
liquid and particle is observed: RI oil = RI glass.

• The Becke line is a bright halo near the boarder of a

particle that is immersed in a liquid of a different
refractive index.
 Becke Lines

Glass has higher refractive index-note white line inside

• Glass has lower refractive index-note white line

outside
Problems with Refractive Index

The measurement of RI alone can be of limited use

because RI distributions of flat glasses and
container glasses overlap.
Histogram = flat glasses
Curve = container glasses
Problems with Refractive Index

A rough statistical
1964-1979 estimate of the
likelihood of finding
glass of that refractive
before 1970

Manufacturing
1980-1997 changed in late
1970’s making glass
more uniform
 FBI Refractive Index vs Density Data

•The FBI has compiled density and refractive index data

for glass from around the world.

•The FBI has identified a relationship between their

refractive indices and densities for 1400 glass
specimens that is better at classification.
 Chemical Analysis of Glass
• Fluorescence
– Under UV radiation, many glasses exhibit
fluorescence (glow)
– Caused by heavy metals (including tin) from
“float” process or organic coatings

• Scanning Electron Microscopy Energy Dispersive

X-ray Analysis
– Can determine many elements simultaneously
– Surfaces of samples (>50 mg) can be analyzed

• Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

– You must first know which elements are present
– Can analyze ppm levels of elements present
 Learning Check

1. Which unique chemical component would be

found in each type of glass shown below?

(beaker) (windshield) (crystal)

2. Use “Table 2.3” to determine if lead borosilicate

glass can be distinguished from borosilicate glass
by density, refractive index, or both.
Quantitative Properties of Glass
The Wave of the Future: Laser Ablation

• Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass

Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)
– Laser burns off a microscopic sample
– Elements are ionized by plasma
– Detects 46 trace elements and their isotopes
simultaneously in glass at < 1 ppb
 Procedure of Examination
• Piece together as many as you can gather of the
glass fragments and select a triangular piece
bounded by two radial cracks and one concentrate
cracks.
• The triangular piece must be adjacent to to the
point of impact or near (if not available)
• Stress lines on the broken edges of the glass will
be observed which are paralll to the side of the
glass which was struck and will at right angle or
perpendicular to the rear side. Remember the 3R
Rule
 Procedure of Examination
• The rule of the concentric mark is the reverse of the
3R rule. “ Stress lines on a concentrate crack will
be at right angles to the front side, i.e. the side from
which the blow came rather than the rear side”
• If radial or concentric cracks cannot be definitely
established, the side from which the blow came
cannot be determined.