Specialty Glass

There are almost as many types of glass as there are possible uses for them. As you gain experience, you will become familiar with many types of specialty glass. A few of these include:
· Mirrors
· Spandrel Glass
· Laminated Glass
· Art Glass

Mirrors are made from high quality annealed float glass designated either mirror quality or mirror select. Mirrors are made by depositing a layer of silver on one surface of the glass. The surface chosen is the score side, because the tin side does not accept silver properly. The reflective quality of the miror depends upon the thickness of the silver layer, glass thickness, and glass color. High quality mirrors can have a copper backing. The copper is deposited over the layer of silver, and offers the greatest amount of protection. Mirrors deteriorate rapidly when exposed to air, so the metal films must be protected immediately by a coating. The glass is usually preheated to a range of 120 – 140 degrees Fahrenheit, before the coating is applied. This paint type coating can be applied in one coat, or consist of two coats of dissimilar, but compatible material.

Reflective, Low Emissivity, and Insulating Glass

Modern glass is called upon to perform many tasks. An important one is to control the amount of heat and light that passes through the glass. Three types of glass designed for this purpose are:
· Reflective Glass
· Low Emissivity Glass
· Insulating Glass

Strengthening Glass

The rate of cooling directly affects the strength of glass. The regular process of cooling – or annealing – float glass results in a slow rate. Stronger glass can be produced by changing the rate of cooling. Two types of stronger glass are:
· Heat-Strengthened Glass
· Tempered Glass

Heat-strengthened glass is cooled at a rate faster than regular annealed glass. Tempered glass, in turn, is cooled at a faster rate than heat strengthened glass. Another way to strengthen glass is to use more than one lite of glass in the application. Laminated glass consists of two or more lites of glass, joined by a layer of plastic.

In many modern buildings, the glass must be as strong as possible. Three basic reasons to strengthen glass are to:
· Increase Wind Load
· Increase Impact Resistance
· Combat Thermal Stress

Architects and designers must consider the force of wind on a building or installation when choosing glass. Wind causes glass to deflect. This deflection strains not only the glass itself but the entire glazing system: the framework, gaskets and sealants.

Impact resistance is closely related to wind load because the wind carries such things as hailstones, dust, small stones and other debris. During tornadoes and hurricanes, the wind carries many larger objects.

As glass heats, it expands. The center portion of a lite gets hotter and expands at a greater rate than the edges. The stresses on the edges are usually greater at the center of each edge and decrease toward the corners. The imbalance strains the edges. This is called thermal stress. The edge strength of the lite, therefore, greatly determines its ability to resist breaking. Clean-cut edges offer the greatest edge strength. This is particularly crucial with heat-absorbing glass. A well-designed glazing system also reduces stresses on the glass.

Heat-strengthened glass is made by heating annealed glass uniformly, then cooling it at a slower rate than tempered glass.
Characteristics include:
· Is about twice as strong as regular annealed glass of the same size and thickness.
· Is more resistant to wind loading and impacts than regular annealed glass though less resistant than tempered glass.
· Fractures into large, jagged pieces, similar to annealed glass.

Heat-strengthened glass is generally used in high-rise buildings to help the glass resist thermal stress. It is also used in the making of spandrel glass. Spandrel glass is obscure glass that is used in non-vision areas. Because heat-strengthened glass fractures into large jagged pieces, it does not qualify as a safety glazing material. All building codes require safety glazing for shower doors, commercial doors and store fronts for safety purposes.

Glass gains considerable strength from tempering. A lite of tempered glass is about four times stronger than a lite of annealed glass of the same size and thickness. Characteristics include:
· The only characteristic of the annealed glass affected by tempering is its bending or tensile strength:
· Tempering increases the tensile strength of glass.
· This makes tempered glass better able to resist the forces caused by heat, wind and impact.
· Tempering does not change:
· The color, chemical composition, or light transmission characteristics of the annealed glass.
· Its compression strength (the ability of the glass to resist crushing forces)
· The rate at which the glass conducts and transmits heat.
· The rate at which the glass expands when heated.
· The stiffness of the glass.

The main reasons to use tempered glass are:
· Tempered glass, when broken, is designed to shatter into cube-shaped particles. It therefore qualifies as a safety glazing material.
· Tempered glass offers greater strength against deflection, and thus, better resistance to the force of wind, than heat-strengthened glass. It is more effective if placed within a well-designed, overall glazing system.
· Tempering increases the ability of glass to survive the impact of objects that may strike the building. When tempered glass does break, it shatters into small cubes, reducing the likelihood of serious injury on impact.
· Tempering increases a lite’s edge strength. Thus tempered glass is specified when designers anticipate high thermal stresses.

Tempered glass is made by heating annealed glass uniformly. The glass can be from 1/8″ to 3/4″ thick. The annealed glass is then cooled rapidly by blowing air uniformly onto both surfaces at the same time. This is known as air quenching. Rapid cooling increases the compression forces on the surface and the tension forces inside the glass. Two processes are used to temper glass:
· Vertical tempering
· Horizontal tempering

In vertical tempering tongs are used to suspend the glass from its top edge. It moves vertically through the furnace in this manner. In horizontal tempering the glass moves through the furnace on stainless steel or ceramic rollers. Of the two processes, horizontal tempering is the more common. Tempered glass is identified by a permanent label, called the bug, which is placed into the corner of each tempered lite. Tempered glass cannot be cut, drilled or edged. These processes must be performed on the glass before tempering.

Laminated glass, sometimes called «lami,» is made by placing a layer of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) between two or more glass lites. The PVB can be clear or tinted and commonly varies in thickness from .015″ to .090″, but it can be as thick as .120″ for special applications. The entire unit is then fused under heat and pressure in a special oven called an autoclave. The laminating process can be performed on clear, tinted, reflective, heat-strengthened or tempered glass. Characteristics include:
· When laminated glass breaks, the glass particles adhere to the PVB and do not fly or fall. Certain combinations of glass and PVB thicknesses qualify as safety glazing materials under the health and safety standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). For example, laminated glass with a .030 PVB layer sandwiched between two pieces of two-millimeter annealed glass meets the minimum requirement for safety glazing.

Applications-In addition to safety glazing, laminated glass has many specialty applications, including sound reduction and security.

Types of Glass

Glass comes in many shapes and forms. At one time most of the glass manufactured in the United States was plate glass. Plate glass was made by a process of grinding and polishing. No longer made in this country, plate glass has been replaced by float glass.

Float glass is a term that refers to a process of making glass that was perfected in 1959 by Pilkington Brothers, Ltd. of England. Float glass is made by pouring the molten glass from a furnace into a chamber that contains a bed of molten tin. The atmosphere inside the chamber is carefully controlled. The glass floats on the tin and forms itself in the shape of the container. It spreads 90 to 140 inches wide at a thickness determined at the time of manufacture. The length of the glass from the furnace to the cutter is about a mile. The upper surface of the glass is called the air side or score side. It is polished with fire. The lower surface is called the tin side. It is not fire-polished.

From the chamber, the glass enters an oven, called a lehr. There it is slowly cooled at a specific rate. This process, called annealing, relieves the glass of internal stresses. The rate of cooling is crucial to the success of the final product. The glass emerges from the lehr at room temperature as a continuous ribbon. It is flat, fire-finished on the top, and has smooth, parallel surfaces. Automatic cutters trim the edges and cut the glass to length.

Because the process is so highly automated, individual lites of glass are not labeled. Shipments of large custom-cut lites are generally shipped in cases that list size, quantity and quality. Each case weighs from 3,000 to 4,000 pounds. Glass can also be shipped in a loose pack, called a stoce. The stoce is bound together by banding material. Stoce glass weighs from 4,000 to 10,000 pounds.

There are two types of glass made by the float process:
· Clear glass
· Tinted or heat absorbing glass

Most of the flat glass made by the float process is clear glass. As its name implies, clear glass is transparent and colorless. Depending upon its thickness, clear glass allows about 75 to 92 percent of the visible light to pass through. This characteristic of glass is called its light transmittance.

The specifications written by the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) separates tinted and heat absorbing glass into two categories. This is misleading, however, because all tinted glass absorbs heat. Tinted, or heat absorbing glass, is made by adding coloring agents to the batch mix. These agents include bronze, gray, green and blue. What tinting does:
· Tinting glass: Reduces the amount of light that passes through the glass.
· Causes the glass to absorb more of the sun’s rays.

As the glass gets thicker, the density of the color also increases. This causes the glass to transmit less visible light. The light transmittance of tinted glass varies from 14 to 83 percent depending upon its color and thickness.

Edge conditions are crucial to the effectiveness of tinted glass because a flaw at the edge can cause the glass to fail as it absorbs heat. Two types of failures are:
· Heat breaks
· Pressure breaks

A heat break occurs at an angle of 90 degrees to the surface of the glass. Heat breaks resemble smooth curves. A pressure break occurs along the surface, usually starting at a corner.

Rolled glass is manufactured by pouring glass from the furnace into a series of rollers. It is then shaped to the desired thickness, annealed and cut to size. The two basic types of rolled glass are:
· Patterned Glass
· Wired Glass

Patterned glass is also called figured glass, obscure glass, and decorative glass. It is available in thicknesses from 1/8″ to 3/8″. Patterned glass is made by passing it through rollers that have patterns on them. The pattern is transferred to one or both sides of the glass. Each manufacturer of patterned glass has unique patterns. Patterning glass has several purposes:
· It controls light.
· It diffuses the details of objects.
· It is decorative.

Patterned glass is available in colors, but the choice is limited. Some of the patterns, because of their depth, make tempering the glass impossible.

Wired glass is made by feeding a welded wire net of a particular design into the molten glass just before it enters the rollers. The wire does not add to the strength of the glass but it does hold the lite in the sash if it shatters. Although manufacturers have unique wire patterns, there are some common ones. A diamond shaped pattern is called misco. A baroque pattern is square. Wired glass can be patterned on one or both sides. If the glass is patterned on both sides, it is usually called rough glass.

Wired glass is used in fire-rated windows and doors because it meets most fire codes. For these applications, all the wires must be embedded in the glass. There are limitations on the square footage allowed in openings. In other applications, the edges of the glass must be sealed to prevent the wires from rusting. However, even though it meets fire codes, wired glass is not a safety glass. In fact, it has only one half the strength of annealed glass of the same thickness. In addition, wired glass cannot be tempered.

History of Glass

The origin and use of glass goes back almost 5,000 years. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of glass objects dating as early as 3,000 B.C. The ancient Greeks used glass in their buildings. Historical records from the period refer to baths and rooms lined with glass. Window glass dates from the end of the third century.

Experts believe that the ancient Syrians discovered glassmaking, probably by accident, about 3,000 B.C. A manufactured green glass rod found in ancient Babylonia (modern Iraq), dates to 2,600 B.C. Syrian glass was a simple melted mixture of soda ash, lime and sand. Glassmakers formed it into final shapes by sculpting it while still hot.

When Egypt conquered Syria in 1,400 B.C., the captured Syrian glass workers were sent back to Egypt. They refined glass making into a higher art. Glassworkers produced vessels, vases and eating utensils by pouring several thin layers of molten glass into sand molds in the shape of the object. The glassware was decorated by adding molten colored glass drips to the final layer.

The Egyptians discovered that they could blow a gob of molten glass from the end of a hollow metal tube into the mold. This technique evolved into what we now know as glass blowing. Glass blowing remains a useful technique for creating many types of glassware.

Window glass originated in Rome, but it was very thick and translucent. That is, it let light in but people couldn’t see out. In 1291, on the Italian island of Murano, workers developed a clear, almost transparent glass called «cristallo.» This is where the word «crystal» comes from. Murano glassware became popular throughout Europe, and Italy built up a thriving export trade.

In the Middle Ages, glass making was still a hand-made process. Window glass was made by blowing the molten glass into a flat disc which was then spun so that centrifugal force caused the glass to thin out and flatten. These discs were cut into small panes of glass, usually limited to 18 square inches. Glass workers searched for improvements.

Cylinder glass was one such improvement. The molten glass was blown into a cylinder which was cut apart, then reheated and flattened. In the 16th and 17th Centuries, the English discovered that using coal instead of wood in their furnaces produced a much clearer glass. Although the panes were wavy and full of bubbles, and sometimes light amethyst or amber in color, people could actually see through their windows.

Louis Lucas de Nehou, a Frenchman, developed a manual process for making plate glass in 1688. The method was cumbersome-it took 16 days from start to finish and produced glass so expensive that only the very rich could afford it. For the next two hundred years, improvements were made in this process, primarily in the power sources needed to melt the raw materials into glass, and in methods to increase the amount of glass that could be produced. But the French plate glass method remained the basic technique. Finally, in the 1900’s, technological improvements were developed which made possible large scale glass manufacturing as we know it today.

Modern Glass

Today, the glass making industry is very sophisticated. Glaziers use a wide variety of glass, depending upon the functions that the glass must perform. What Is Glass? Basically, glass is sand-a very high quality silica sand, to which other materials are added. The resulting mixture is called a batch. Some of the other materials included in the batch are salt cake, limestone, dolomite, feldspar, soda ash and powdered cullet. Cullet is broken glass. It can be left over from a previous batch or from the edges that remain after a batch of glass has been formed and cut to size. Adding cullet helps the batch melt more easily.

Glass is made by melting and cooling the batch. As the batch cools, it becomes solid without forming crystals. Crystals are three-dimensional building blocks that make a substance internally rigid. The lack of crystals makes glass technically a liquid, not a solid. It also makes glass transparent.

What is shower?

Shower cubicles used not so long ago in our daily lives, but for a short time they have gained popularity around the world. What is a shower cubicle, far from being known to all. Shower room – is fenced and equipped with a certain way for the adoption of the soul, but it can not take a bath. This sanitary product with a variety of exterior and functionality.
But before talking about the different types of shower cabins, here are the main advantages of each. Any shower took almost half the area than a standard bath. Normal size shower cabins range from 70 x 80 cm to 90 cm х90, and can be found even 1 m by 1 m, 80 x 120 cm, etc.

Accordingly, in your bathroom exempt respectable space which can be set aside for a washing machine, sink, mirror, etc. Shower room can be located in the bathroom in two ways.

If it can be autonomous, ie in any arbitrarily chosen location, then it will be called capita boxing. If it pristraivaetsya corner to the bathroom, where pre-produced waterproofing the walls, then called a shower cubicle corner. Per capita boxing can inspect from four sides, a shower corner has only two walls.

Corners – this is the most simple and inexpensive option, it saves not only your money, but space and a bathroom. If you do not want to torture, and summing boards erected to drain pipes, be sure to buy a pallet. Mixer, shutter, pallet – these are three necessary components of your per capita corner. Functionality shower booths is not limited opportunity to take a shower. Modern shower able to replace not only the bath, but can combine the functions of Turkish baths, massage salons and therapeutic. Take a shower – is much more than simply washing facilities. Relax and refresh – these are the soul purpose. In the morning shower gives us strength for the day, and in the evenings he can help us lift the tension and relax. And the best place for this shower!

The glass shower cubicles

Who does not dream of bathroom , furnished new equipment? Another matter that is not always beautiful and necessary for our hygiene items placed in it. In European small apartments with small bathrooms shower in the absence of baths – common phenomenon. In terms of hygiene and comfort of this, perhaps more civilized solution than bath and shower “in one vial.” And life has shown that shower operated by the user much more frequently than bath .

Shower cabins are becoming more traditional element of Ukrainian bathrooms. Thanks to the availability and convenience in using a shower cubicle became one of the leaders of sanitary sales in Ukraine. Vody to receive the soul of every five spent less than an appointment baths.

Another convincing argument in favour booths – compactness. In some homes for the big bath simply no place. Many bathrooms combined area is three to four square meters. Yet there must be fit and modern sanitary ware. It shower can generated in such a situation.

Shower room – is fenced pallets, walls and door space bathroom fitted with a shower device ( shower panel ). Create “protect” can be designed in various ways. Buy some of its elements (sometimes even from different companies) and then gather them together on the ground, getting cabin on an individual project. Or buy ready-construction.
In accordance with these showers are divided into teams and monobloc . Team glass shower can have a closed structure of the three walls and door, then it is easy to install anywhere in the bathroom. There are so-called showers corners: they have no rear wall, set them only in the corner of the room. This design with door and one side wall or with two doors, which are attached to pallets and bathroom walls and walls oblitsovyvayutsya ceramic tiles.
Purpose soul , besides maintaining cleanliness body – to help refresh and vzbodritsya or, conversely, to relax. In the morning he might give forces on the day and evening classes – to help defuse tensions.
Want to start in the morning shower cabin with soft falling jets, and then continue the procedure tropical rain, then proceed to the steam bath with a soft steam and fragrant grass aroma, and finally, to gain vivacity for the entire day, to make a strong massage sprays for the whole body? Then you our guest, we will install your any you like a glass shower cubicle , but through our special technology specialists cause any type figure.

Стеклянные душевые кабины