Read Consulting LLC failure analysis laboratory was asked to determine why a 12 oz beer bottle “exploded” and injured a bar patron. Very little of the bottle was preserved. Fortunately a major portion of the bottle base was saved and it contained one half of the failure origin. In this case the glass failure analysis determined that the cause was impact, and the heel of the bottle contained a portion of the Hertzian cone created by impact. Figure #1 is a photograph of the remaining base with the failure origin. Figure #2 is a photo micro graph of the impact origin.
Note:The perfect Hertzian cone is best demonstrated by a BB hole in a glass window.
