What is Safety Glass and What Types Are There?

What is Safety Glass and What Types Are There?

Safety glass is a category of glass that is designed to significantly reduce the risk of injury when it breaks, and in some cases to prevent the breakage itself. Safety glass also encompasses various types designed for strength and fire resistance. It includes toughened glass, which shatters into small, blunt pieces, and laminated glass, which uses an interlayer to hold the pieces together. Explore more about safety glass and its applications here.

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Making Glass Stronger

Various techniques are employed to make glass stronger, including heat-strengthening and tempering. Heat-strengthened glass is cooled at a quicker rate than regular annealed glass, while tempered glass is cooled even faster. Another approach to enhance the strength of glass involves using multiple lite of glass in an application.

Heat-Strengthened Glass

Heat-strengthened glass is created by uniformly heating annealed glass and then cooling it slowly. This method results in glass that is roughly twice as strong as regular annealed glass, making it suitable for applications requiring resistance to wind loads and impacts. Despite its increased strength, heat-strengthened glass fractures into large, jagged pieces when broken and, therefore, does not qualify as a safety glazing material. It is often used in high-rise buildings to withstand thermal stress.

What Is Tempered Glass?

Tempered glass, also known as toughened glass, is made by heating annealed glass and then cooling it rapidly through air quenching. This process places the surfaces under compression and the inner part of the glass under tension, significantly enhancing its tensile strength. Tempered glass is approximately four times stronger than regular annealed glass and is available in thicknesses ranging from 1/8" to 3/4". Characteristics unaffected by tempering include color, chemical composition, and light transmission.

• 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

Benefits of Tempered Glass

Tempered glass provides superior strength against deflection and enhanced wind resistance compared to heat-strengthened glass. It is specified in designs that anticipate high thermal stresses. When broken, it shatters into small, blunt particles, reducing the risk of injury, and thus qualifies as a safety glazing material. Many large storefront windows are made of tempered glass, identifiable by a permanent label in the corner. Note that tempered glass cannot be cut, drilled, or edged after the tempering process.

What Is Wire Glass?

Wire glass includes a welded wire netting within the glass, which holds the lite in place if it breaks. This type of glass is primarily used in fire-rated windows and doors and meets most fire codes. However, wire glass is not strengthened glass and has about half the strength of annealed glass of the same thickness. It also cannot be tempered.

What Is Laminated Glass?

Laminated glass consists of two or more glass layers bonded together with a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer, which can vary in thickness and color. This glass type is commonly used in safety glazing applications, but it also offers benefits like sound reduction, burglar resistance, and solar energy transmission control. Laminated glass holds broken pieces together, preventing them from falling or causing injury. Vehicle windshields are a typical application of laminated glass, contributing significantly to the structural integrity of the car during crashes.

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Benefits of Laminated Glass

One notable advantage of laminated glass is that its fragments adhere to the PVB interlayer when broken, significantly reducing the risk of injury. Specific combinations of glass and PVB thicknesses can meet safety glazing material standards set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The design flexibility of laminated glass allows for variations in thickness and color to control glare, solar energy transmission, and UV radiation.

Bullet-Resistant Glass

Bullet-resistant glass comprises multiple layers of laminate and glass, with polycarbonate materials in between to absorb bullet impact energy. The thicker the glass, the higher its impact resistance. Some bullet-resistant glass types enable the victim to shoot back while remaining protected.

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Specialty Laminated Safety Glass

With our recent SGCC Certification, we can supply laminated glass meeting ANSI Z97.1 or CAN/CGSB 12.1 standards for various applications, including:

• Glass Floors
• Glass Stairs
• Glass Railings
• Sloped or Overhead Glazing
• Atriums
• Building Facades, Storefronts, Windows, and Doors
• Glass Partitions
• Elevator Enclosures
• Acoustical Glass
• Safety Shower Enclosures
• And more

Our Pujol 100+ fully automated laminating line enables the fabrication of specialty laminated glass applications, including:

• Colored Glass
• Decorative Glass with organic inserted-fabric, metals, stones, and papers
• Mirrored or One-way Glass
• Switchable Glass
• Bird-friendly Glass

Contact us to discuss your requirements of which was pdlc glass. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.