SafeLite Laminated Safety Glass consists of two or more sheets of glass permanently bonded together by a plastic or resin interlayer
Benefits of Laminated Safety Glass
Safety & Protection
When subjected to human or other impact the bond between the
glass and interlayer adheres any broken fragments, keeping the
glass intact and resisting penetration.
This important breakage characteristic significantly reduces the
likelihood of serious injury, qualifying laminated glass as a Grade
A Safety Glass in accordance with NZS 4223: Part 3 and AS/NZ 2208
"Safety glazing materials in buildings".
In addition the glass is unlikely to fall out if used in sloped
or overhead glazing applications, providing protection.
Security
Laminated glass offers greater protection for people and
property by providing an effective barrier from attack. Although
the glass will break if hit with a hammer, brick or similar object,
the interlayer can resist penetration, ensuring any attempt to
enter a premises will be slow and noisy. In addition the attacked
glass will tend to remain in the opening, keeping wind and rain out
of the building until it can be replaced at a convenient time. The
type of laminated glass required will depend on the level of
security sought.
Types of Laminated Glass
Safelite PVB is a laminated safety glass made
with a Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) interlayer.
Safelite CIP is a "cast in place" laminated
safety glass made by pouring a special liquid resin into the cavity
between sheets of glass. The resin is cured in the factory by UV
light to a hard plastic state, bonding the glass sheets
together.
Soundstop is an acoustic grade CIP laminated
safety glass consisting of two sheets of glass with a 1.0mm or
1.5mm acoustic resin interlayer. This product has excellent sound
reduction properties due to the elastic nature of the special resin
interlayer. Acoustic laminated glass is specifically designed to
reduce sound intrusion into buildings.
Super-Safelite is high-performance safety and
security laminated glass, for forced entry protection, bullet
resistance, blast resistance, cyclone resistance and prison and
suicide cells.
Fading Control
PVB Laminated glass absorbs 99% of the sun's UV radiation while
allowing the important visible light to pass through. It therefore
helps to protect expensive curtains, furnishings and carpets from
fading caused by the damaging effects of shortwave ultra-violet
radiation.
Sound Control
Laminated glass is very effective in reducing the transmission
of noise through glazing.
This is achieved through the sound dampening properties of the
interlayer, which will vary with the type and thickness of the
glass and interlayer.
Climate Control
Laminated glass can have a tinted interlayer or can be made with
tinted or reflective glass to reduce glare and heat gain in a
building. It can also be made with Low E glass for use in an IGU to
reduce heat loss from the building and thus save on energy
costs.
Colour and Light
Laminated glass can be made with a wide range of coloured PVB
interlayers to provide special lighting effects. These colours can
be combined with tinted and/or printed glass to provide special
effects.
Visible Distortion
Due to the controlled nature of the laminating process, facades
glazed with annealed laminated glass reduce the risk of visible
distortions sometimes created by the heat treatment processes,
providing significantly sharper visual transmission and
reflections. These benefits are dependent on the nature of the
final processed product.
Clear laminated glass is very similar to clear float glass of
the same thickness, and in most cases no colour variation is
noticeable. Tinted PVB laminated glass may not match tinted float
glass as it is the interlayer that is tinted not the glass and the
tints can vary due to a range of PVB suppliers.
The laminate can be made with tinted glass to match tinted float
and some products are made in this format as standard. However, the
PVB interlayer can create some polarisation of light in some
lighting conditions and this may appear as haze or give
a dappled appearance.
Colour Matching
Laminated glasses with tinted interlayer do not exactly match
tinted glass and care is required when colour matching glass types
in a building. However the clear glass thickness in laminated glass
can be increased to meet design loads without changing the tint
colour so matching can be obtained with different thicknesses of
glass.