Guide To Avoiding Glass Failure
Glass Construction
For purposes of this discussion glass constructions are divided into
four major groups: monolithic, insulating, laminated, and miscellaneous as defined below.
Monolithic
Glass
Monolithic glass is the primary glass
product that is produced. It consists simply of a flat piece
of glass of constant thickness. In the past monolithic glass
was produced using either sheet or plate glass processes.
However, virtually all monolithic glass produced in the world
today is produced using the float glass process. Monolithic
float glass can be annealed or heat-treated as described in
the glass type section.
Laminated
Glass
Laminated glass is manufactured by
bonding multiple layers of glass together through the use of
layer(s) of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) or in some cases the use
of liquid resins. Usually, laminated glass involves two pieces
of glass of the same thickness and a single interlayer as
shown below. The primary function of the interlayer is to
securely fasten the layers of glass together. When laminated
glass is broken, the interlayer helps to hold broken pieces of
glass together.
Insulating
Glass
Insulating Glass is manufactured by
enclosing a sealed gas space between two or more pieces of
glass which are separated by spaces of constant thickness.
The
seal between the glass plates is accomplished through the use
of variety of different types of materials and sealants.
In
addition, a desiccant is incorporated into the edge seal
technology to adsorb water vapor that migrates across the
seal. The concept of IG seal failure is fully discussed in the
Insulating Glass Seal Failure section.
While no amount of effort can assure the
production of a trouble-free IG unit, there are certain IG
manufacturers who participate in insulating glass
certification programs to assure the production of a quality
product. These certification programs administer independent
testing of IG units based on ASTM standards to assure that the
IG units produced meet performance test requirements and
review quality control standards of the fabricators. The
filming of certified IG units should be less of a risk than
that of filming uncertified IG units.
Miscellaneous
Glass
There are a number of different
miscellaneous types of glass that may be encountered in the
marketplace including wired, textured, and patterned glass.
The manufacturing processes associated with these types of
glass typically introduce surface and edge flaws which make
the filming of these products risky.
Guide
Topics
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