Types Of Glasses Used In Vehicle Glazing: Tempered Glass And Laminated Glass

Advantages

Discuss about the Complete Book on Production of Automobile.

There two types of glasses in vehicles that the article talks about, these are; tempered glass developed by special heated furnace which are in constant temperature heating of around 700 ⁰C after which the glass is removed from the furnace and rapidly cooled putting the surface of the glass in a compression state while in the left and middle voltages. The laminated glass which is a safety glass consists of two or more layers of polyvinyl butyral manufactured by combining two or more annealed or heat treated glass sheets bonded with one or more of PVB interlayers and subjected to heat and pressure in order to ensure perfect adhesion between the constituent elements. Tempered glass has strength hence better bending and also poses less danger due to its capacity of bearing load. However, it cannot be machined once more, the glass is capable of exploding because it has a greater strength. It is important to install safety glasses in vehicles for good reason since they are safer, durable, sound reduction purposes. However, they are expensive (David, 2015).

The tempered glass development which is also known as physical hardening originated in the mid-17^th century. The annealing process consists of heating up to a softening temperature of the glass and immediately placing in a water bath at a relatively lower temperature so as to increase its external resilience factors. This is an early way of liquid hardening. German Fredrick in 1875, Geoyge E. in Massachusetts in 1876 received the first patent on how to harden glass and street lamp, Hugho’heill in New Jersy receives a patent the same year (Matthias, Andreas, & Mauro, 2008).

Tempered glass started in 1955 in China where Yaohua Glass Factory in Shan Hai began production trial in 1965 when it first placed on the market tempered glass. Technology on tempered glass became popular worldwide in 1970 specifically in construction and automotive where conditions of economic growth are fast. Tempered glass is developed by especially heated furnaces which are in constant temperature heating of around 700⁰ C. After this, the glass is removed from the furnace and cooled rapidly putting the surface of the glass in a compression state while in the left and middle voltage (Wayne, 2018).

Tempered glass has roughly 5 times more strength as compared to annealed glass having a similar thickness. Also, the used tempered glass has a resistance that is greater for thermal induced stresses compared to annealed glass or heat strengthened glass. The use of tempered glass requires a mandate in most nations in the world by their respective specifications or regulations. However, there is a possibility of the tempered glass to break without any apparent reason (Ziqi, et al., 2018).

Disadvantages

Glass tempering can be done through uniform heating to a maximum of 700 ⁰C of temperature after which there is an immediate cooling. The glass has to go through rollers that are furnace-driven. In these rollers, there are three methods of heating which are the radiation, conduction and convection.  When the heat is conducted by the rolls, the coils help in heat broadcasting. The surrounding air is put into convection by the air coming out of the nozzles. This air makes it possible for hot air to circulate hence leading to even heat circulation from every side. After this, the glass which is hot gets rapidly cooled (COMM BANGKOK CO., 2017).

Once tempering is done, the tempered glass gets about 4-5 times greater than the conventional glass. Developing such a glass improves the thermal stability making it withstand great temperatures to about 250 ⁰C. It is therefore considered to not break under normal conditions. In case the tempered glass manages to break, the glass would disintegrate into smaller harmless pieces.  (Wayne, GB, GB/T, GBT – Product Catalog. Translated English of Chinese Standard (All national standards GB, GB/T, GBT, GBZ).: Product catalog – China National Standard: GB; GB/T; GBT, 2018).

Glass annealing would lead to thermal stability, tensile strength as well as the safety of conventional glass. Annealing glass also makes it able to absorb more heat. Taking note of these properties, the use of tempered glass are highlighted for important considerations (Jan, Christian, & Danijel, 2013).

Uneven heating due to direct sunlight leads to sharp contraction and expansion of glass leading to possible breakage. The tempered glass can maintain its structure at temperatures difference below 32 ⁰C. However, an increase in temperature difference increases the possibility of fracture.

Advantages

1. The use of tempered glass is due to the increased strength that is many times the strength of ordinary conventional glass. Tempered glass has better bending resistance.
2. Tempered glass is safe to use due to its higher capacity of bearing load thereby improving the property of brittleness. In case the tempered glass gets damaged, it leaves small glass pieces that pose less danger to individuals.

Disadvantages

1. Once glass gets tempered, it cannot be machined once more or cut. The glass is only processed to the shape that is required before being tempered.
2. Though the tempered glass has greater strength than conventional glass, the glass is capable of exploding which is not present in the ordinary
3. Laminated Glass

Laminated glass is also considered a safety glass that is made up of two or more than two glass planes that could be made of numerous polyvinyl butyral which has to be sandwiched between them before being treated. The used glass planes may be the normal float glass or heat strengthened or tempered panels. In case the glass is broken, these fragments tend to adhere to one other on the PVB layer hence a reduction in injury. The laminated glass could then prevent glass from falling or help in resisting weather damage or further impact. PVB membranes have an improved performance in tenacity also having a larger absorption capacity of the impacting energy in case of the laminated glass breaks from the violent force as it disperses the energy evenly.   Hence, the laminated glasses is difficult to break and the glass shape could be maintained even during the break.  To add on this individual inside and outside the vehicles are protected from being hurt by the glass fragments (Alfred & Michael, 2017).

Advancements in Glass Technology

PVB lamination of glass is produced by mixing two or more heat treated glass sheets or annealed glass bonded and subjected to heat with one or two interlayers of PVB so as to perfect adhesion between elements constituted.

Lamination of resin glass is done by pouring the resin liquid in the space between two layers of glass which are together held till the curing of the resin, even though Resin lamination of glass is not regarded as safety glass.

Glass windows that are ordinary exhibit brittleness and break into sharp long pieces sometimes leading to the grave or serious injuries, the ability of laminated glass to work under impact is its important component. Laminated glass has interlayer with the capacity to withstand the impact of energy and penetration resistance. Even though breakage may occur in the glass, there’s adherence to the glass pieces to the interlayers of plastic which lowers injury risks and damage to property (Report, 2004).

Laminated glass gives high performance, durability and multi-functional importance as well as used in the aesthetic preservation of the glass appearance, it also gives solutions to architecture design issues and increases protection from disaster effects which includes; bomb blasts, hurricane and earthquakes if properly designed (Kumar & Davim, 2018).

Thieves mostly break windows to access window handles and doors but laminated glass has the ability to withstand intrusion as its virtually not possible to cut through its PVB layers which are thick in case glass is broken. It is important to contact an expert who can design properly laminated glass which can resist intrusion (Bhardwaj, 2014).

Even though the natural light has an important part in the architectural design, the UltraViolet ray produced by the sunlight may lead to fading of seats and curtains as well as itching. The laminated glass while letting enough visible to penetrate, it can block around 99% of the rays.

Laminated glass has shown excellence in barricading noise as it has a high index sound reduction as compared to a monolithic glass of the same thickness of frequencies 125Hz and 4,000Hz. The PVB shear damping performance gives laminated glass sound control effectiveness. This dampening of sound is caused by a property of the interlayer which is elastic in the PVB (Commerce, 2017).

Laminated glass provides protection from property damage and injuries resulting from glass breakages due to disasters which are natural, this includes; earthquakes and hurricanes.it also gives protection against disasters which are manmade example bomb blasts. It is also important to contact an expert so as to design the combination glass.

Roller waves cause distortion in the heat-strengthened and tempered glass. This can be prevented by use of annealed laminated glass.

Advantages of laminated glasses.

1. Mainly for security purposes, people would prefer installation of laminated because it’s harder to break therefore more secure.
2. Protection from harsh conditions of weather especially to people who live in places that are frequently affected by tornados and hurricanes are sure that the laminated glass is less vulnerable to hail and wind(Bob & Ann, 2011).
3. Safety in the circumstance that children throw stones at vehicle windows as it is not likely to break hence the windows are safe.

Disadvantages of laminated glass

1. Laminated windows as compared to normal windows are a little more expensive as they need extra effort during the process of manufacturing this is due to the material having various layers. One is only able to fix windows gradually one at the time considering the cost of replacement.
2. Non-existing  whole manufacturers which not only  not lead to increase in costs it does limit options, additionally one might wait a bit longer for them to be made and this may pose risk (Donald, 2013)

As outlined in the article the tempered glass is safer than the tempered glass and this is because tempered glass is capable of exploding with no apparent reason, the difference in temperature can also lead to fracture and tempered glass can also break due to uneven heat from the direct sunlight. The laminated glass, on the other hand, has the PVB with a membrane with an improved performance in tenacity with a large absorption capacity to the energy impacted hence force is dispersed evenly which makes it hard to break and also protects individuals in the vehicle as the glass shape is maintained during breaking (Sekurit, 2017).

This article, therefore, produces summarized understanding on the types of glasses used in vehicle glazing that is important to the safety of vehicle users. There are two types of glasses namely; tempered glass and laminated glass. Tempered glass is less safe as it may explode for no reason whereas laminated glass is safer as it is hard to break. There are also advancements that have been made to glasses which include the following; solar technology, electrochromic and Fassade2-Festo

There are a number of advancements that have made to glasses lately and they are as follows;

1. Electrochromic glass; the glass automatically switches and adjust to conditions of lighting is a reality already and being experimented on by companies with different liquid crystals mixtures to obtain panes which can respond even faster to daylight intensity within seconds which comes also in the wide range of colours.
2. Solar technology; using facades which adjust to syphon off hot air and lighting steps solutions for future are to be provided to integrate technology on solar for heat and electricity to be produced and be stored in batteries site and units of storing heat. A huge step in having vehicles to be self- sufficient.
3. Fassade2-Festo; the façade of glass that is the new automation Festo centre has been produced as a façade air exhaust by use of window panes that are electro-chromic which adjusts automatically to the conditions of light that are prevailing.

References

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