Types of glasses

TRANSPARENT WHITE GLASSES

Description

  • White glass has the following composition: silicon, the raw material in sand form (70 up to 72%)
  • Soda ash, liquidity ascarbonates, sulfates and nitrates (on about 14%)
  • Calcium oxide, as stabilizer in form of limestone (on about 10%)
  • Various other oxides, such as alumina and manganese, to improve the physical properties of glass, including resistance to atmospheric contaminants.
  • For mass colored glasses can, also, be incorporated metal oxides.

Applications

Common units of double glazing, shop windows, furniture, refrigerator’s and car’s industry, etc.

Colors

WHITE (TRANSPARENT)

 Thickness

  • 2mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 15mm, 19mm

TRANSPARENT/COLORED GLAZING

Description

It is a float glass which mass has been painted during the procedure of production, by adding small amounts of metal oxides, in the usual white composition. The add of the color doesn’t affect the natural attribute of the glass, apart from a small reduction in the light reflection. It is, also, important to note that the coloration will be darker as the thickness of the glazing is increasing, while the light transmission is decreasing. The colored glazing reduces the total solar energy transmittance as having increasing energy absorption. This means that special attention is needed during their usage, as, in case there are aggravating environmental factors, the round grinding is necessary (even heat treatment), in order to avoid the undesirable event of the self – breakage.

Application

At the furniture industry and the architecture for decorative purposes.

Thickness: 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 8mm, 10mm

Colors: Bronze, tinted, green, blue.

 

SAFETY GLAZING *SECURIT*

Description

When the glazing gets its final form that it will have in implementing, it is led to heat treatment furnace. There, it enters the heating chamber, where it remains at temperatures between 640 to 720 C, reciprocating on ceramic rolls for the time needed, depending on the thickness (for white glazing the time needed is 40sec/mm) in order to reach the melting point.

Shortly after that, the glass is led to the cooling space, where fast, but perfectly controlled, it is cooled from both sides on its surface. During this process, the outer of the edge is contracted by cooling, faster than the inner portions of the glass, which still are in a viscous state, thus, voltage is stored into the mass of the glass.

And, therefore, while the physical properties of the glass, after treatment, remains the same, the additional voltage that is stored into the mass, increases the mechanical strength of the glass 4 to 5 times more compared with the corresponding of a simple pane of equal thickness.

 

TRIPLEX GLASS *LAMINATE*

Description

The triplex glass are laminated, safety glass panels, manufactured in accordance with the standard EN12543. They are composed of 1 or more glasses glued together by one or more interlayers films of PVB.

After installation of PVB between the sheets of glass, they, all together, subjected to heat and pressure treatment in an autoclave oven. This results to solid adhesion of the laminate PVB with the glasses.

In case of breakage, the fragments remain stuck to the film and, thus, injuries are avoided. In a fully framed installation, the glass’ fragments are retained by the PVB and the glass still maintains a residual strength until it will be replace.

At this point, we have to make clear that, contrary to popular belief, the triplex’s resistance threshold is lower than a simple’s glass of same thickness. This means that the triplex glass will break more easy than a simple glass of equal thickness. The reason that makes it an attractive option isn’t its resistance to breakage, but its performance after overcoming its breakpoints. The fact that after the breakage:

  • it will not be collapsed uncontrollably as to injure us
  • it will stay on its place, protecting the area (home, shop window, car, airplane) until its replacement.

The thickness and the number of glasses can be changed in order to create triplex glass with different characteristics as to comply with the safety standards of each application.

All types of glass can be integrated into triplex applications. For example, a triplex glazing can be consisted of common white glass or of pyrolytic coating or of soft coating or of colored glass. The use of extra white glass for the creation of a triplex composition provides high levels of transparency and excellent optical permeation, without scarifying anything of the safety standards. This is especially necessary in applications requiring thick and solid constructions, such as bulletproof, floor, aquarium glasses etc..

The films PVB may be either transparent or translucent or, in some embodiments, colored. Concerning the internal application, it is also possible to combine with decorative effects.

At the international nomenclature, it has come to be called every pane triplex, with a format coded XXX.YY, where the successive “X” express the thickness of the glazing and the “Y” represents the number of the PVB films inserted in each intermediate bonding.
For instance, the triplex 33.1 consists from 2 glazing sheets of 3mm each and 1 PVB film of 0.38 mm.

Respectively, a glass of 8108.28 refers to a triplex consisting from 1 glazing of 8mm, 2 films of 0.38mm,1 glazing of 10mm, 8 films of 0.38mm and 1 more glazing of 8mm.

Applications

SAFETY

In the safety field, the triplex glazing provides excellent “passive” safety in relation to the common glazing. The term “passive” is meant that the glass triplex, as opposed to being mistakenly widespread, breaks as easy (if not easier) as a common glass pane. The safety features imparted, is due to its performance since overcame its safety limits of breakage as the fragments remain stuck to the adhesive film. Thus, the fragments are rendered harmless and unable to cause serious injuries. This particular feature is that makes the triplex glazing to be qualified as a first – class safety glass.

 

PROTECTION

The triplex glazing, also, offers increased protection of property and human beings, providing a barrier between the inside and the outside, even after breakage. Although, it will (easily) break, in case that it is stuck with a hammer, stone or the like, the intermediate film will prevent the entrance by ensuring that violent breach will be slow and noisy.

Finally, after breakage, and if mounted on an fixed frame, is giving us time for replacement without property staying exposed (home, car, shop etc.). This way, property is protected, not only from losses due to disintegration, but, also, from theft and from weather too.

 

SOUNDPROOFING

The glass triplex, due to the existence of the adhesive film which is flexible, has an excellent sound absorptive capacities. It has the ability to dampen the resonance and to eliminate the phenomenon of the “acoustic window”, in medium and high frequencies (1000 – 2000HZ). So, in many cases, using glazed triplex offers an excellent solution to the problem of sound insulation as the most annoying noises (these of car traffic, aircraft and trains), contain significant amounts of sound energy in this frequency range.

 

UV RESTRICTION

One more characteristic of the intermediate PVB film is that shows high retention of harmful radiation.

This characteristic makes triplex glazing to be an excellent “antidote” to the disturbing phenomenon of fading of colors (goods, furniture, carpets, floors, etc.). Furthermore, no one should underestimate the beneficial effect of protecting the skin from sunburn or just tanning.

Thickness

3 3.1, 4 4.1, 4 4.1 acoustic, 5 5.1, 6 6.1, 6 6.8, 8 8.1, 8 8.2, 8 8.12, 10 10.1, 8 10 8.2 8

 

 

SOURCE (of original text): PRISMA S.A.
PUBLISHED WITH THE APPROVAL OF PRISMA S.A.
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