One of the lesser-known secrets of glass (even in the glass industry) is that key information about the nature and causes of breakage is encoded into the fracture surfaces. This presentation will explore the stories written in broken glass - at the micro scale, on the fracture surfaces - on the macro scale, in the patterns of breakage on buildings - and in the expert witness stand (dive-bombing magpies, anybody?).  David will draw upon his experiences from more than 50 architectural glass breakage investigations over the past 35 years - from single panes, through to buildings with more than 100 broken panels.  Float glass, heat-strengthened glass, toughened glass, laminated glass; impact failures, thermal stress breakages, and manufacturing impurities.  And a few discussions about risk along the way.

Speaker bio:

David West is currently a Technical Director at Inhabit, one of Australia's leading firms of facade engineers and consultants.  Over the course of his 40+ year career, David has had the opportunity to work across a range of fields involved with the design, construction and performance of buildings, particularly the building envelope, or facade.  His core training is in materials science and building construction.  His expertise has developed from a number of intertwined strands, including the testing and evaluation of performance of building materials, the design detailing and specification of building facades, the condition assessment of existing buildings, the conservation of heritage places, and the diagnostic investigation of materials failures in buildings.  Whilst he has specialist expertise with all aspects of the use of stone in buildings - one of his more interesting projects in recent years involved the investigation of cracked limestone panels on the facade of an 80 storey condominium building in Jersey City, looking across the Hudson River to Manhattan - he has also undertaken a wide range of architectural glass breakage investigations.