Different Types of Glasses Used in Construction

There are several varieties of glass designed for security, aesthetics, privacy, and insulation. Changes in their manufacturing procedures can result in enhanced strength, colour changes, and even safer breaking methods. And each of these glass types has at least one distinct practical application.

This introduction to the various forms of glass will explain the properties of glass, as well as how the most popular glass types are created and used.

Characteristics of Glasses

The different types of glass each have their own characteristics and applications. However, there are three qualities of glass that are crucial in deciding its use.

Strength: Whether it’s resistance to impact or bearing weight, the strength of the glass determines its practical use. Thick, impact-resistant glass is an excellent choice for storefront glass, show cases, and tall windows. Aquariums, elevated walkways, and other applications can benefit from glass with high weight-bearing capabilities. To save money, thinner, weaker glass might be used for overlaying with other panes. 

Transparency: The transparency of a sheet of glass could influence its optimal application. Clear glass is an excellent choice for windows, doors, and glass cases. Frosted glass, structural imperfections, window film, and tinted tints may be beneficial for seclusion in settings such as shower glazing and neighbor-facing windows. Tinted glass can also block UV rays from passing through freely.

U Value: U Value describes how efficiently a sheet of glass prevents hot or cooled air from travelling through it. While low U Value glass has limited applications, high U Value glass is more useful for usage in doors or windows.

Despite the enormous variety of glass kinds, some basic types are more prevalent than others. The following will describe the most popular categories and their applications.

Various Types of Glasses Used in Constructionof

Float Glass

A float glass panel is a form of glass panel created by floating molten glass over a base of molten tin. Tin is a flat, denser surface than glass, resulting in a flawlessly flat glass surface. The glass solidifies and is trimmed to form as it cools. Float glass is a popular choice for window glass at its most basic level. However, because it is the basic type of glass that manufacturers use to create other forms of glass, it is constantly in great demand. 

Tempered Glass

Tempered glass, often known as toughened glass, is intended to be stronger than float or annealed glass while also breaking into smaller, safer pieces. Manufacturers begin with a fundamental float or annealed glass, heat it to around 1200 degrees Fahrenheit, and then rapidly cool the surface while gently cooling the inside of the pane. This causes internal stress and exterior compression, increasing the strength of the sheet by up to four times. 

The way the glass breaks varies as a result of the heating and cooling process. When a sheet of toughened glass breaks, it shatters into little fragments, producing far safer circumstances than the huge, jagged shards of float or annealed glass. However, because it cannot be cut or drilled after cooling, the production process is more difficult than that of float glass. Tempered glass is a common material for mobile devices, automotive windows, bathroom doors and tall building windows. These uses necessitate strength, but if they shatter, the little fragments are considerably safer for car occupants, passersby below, or people in the lavatory.

Annealed Glass

Annealed glass is essentially float glass after it has been annealed. This method includes carefully chilling float glass with cold air blasts on one side. This eliminates flaws and internal tensions, resulting in very transparent glass. It’s perfect for shaping and cutting.

Annealed glass, like float glass, is used for glass windows. Other varieties of glass, such as laminated or tempered glass, can also be made from it.

Wired Glass

Wired glass is a more traditional form of glass that is used to increase safety in schools, hospitals, and other business settings. The metallic mesh, or electrical cables, inside the glass prevent it from shattering and dropping, allowing the majority of the glass to remain in the frame and the door to remain fire resistant. If the glass is exposed to high temperatures during a fire, the shards are held in the frame, preventing the fire from spreading as rapidly.

The most popular applications for wired glass include school and hospital doors and windows, particularly in fire doors.

Insulated Glass

Insulated glass is a form of glass that prevents heat from passing through a window or door. It is a system with multiple panes of glass, a separator between them, an inert gas between the window panes, and a frame to keep it all together, rather than the glass itself being insulated. Heat is trapped on one side of the glass because the distance between the two panels of glass prevents it from travelling down a thermal bridge. It keeps the heat outside on hot days. It retains the heat inside on cold days.

Insulated glass is often used in windows, doors, and other openings where the loss of heat is a likely and unwanted result. Typically, annealed or laminated glass panes are used in these windows. 

Mirrored Glass

Mirrored glass is a form of coated glass that is used to reflect light and pictures. It begins as float glass sheets, but the maker paints the reverse with a metal substance. The float glass is completely unambiguous, while the metal film (usually silver or aluminium) reflects the picture back to the user. The producer boils the metal of choice before placing the sheet of floating glass on top to glue it to the glass. As the metal particles cool, they cling to the glass layer, forming a permanent link.

Mirrored glass is most commonly used for aesthetic purposes, such as installing a mirror in a bathroom for shaving or doing make-up. This is also used in wall-mounted mirrors and automobile mirrors.

Heat-toughened Glass

Heat-toughened glass is identical to tempered glass in that it is strengthened by a heating and cooling process. Heat-strengthened glass, on the other hand, undergoes cooling more slowly, limiting the amount of strain inside the glass. This increases the strength of the glass up to double that of float or annealed glass while maintaining a same break pattern, which means it breaks into bigger shards of glass that often remain in the frame. In high-temperature situations where mechanical strain may harm float or annealed glass, heat-strengthened glass is common.  

Laminated Glass

Laminated glass is a form of glass composed of multiple layers of annealed glass joined by a thin layer of transparent substance. This transparent covering, which is usually constructed of polyvinyl butyral, keeps the glass in place if the panes shatter. These panels are also significantly stronger and less prone to shatter due to the two layers and film. As a result, laminated glass is also known as safety glass. 

Laminated glass is the most commonly used form of glass in doors, windows near walkways, and windows that require extra protection. Laminated glass is also used in glass panes larger than 9 square feet in total area, as well as windows regularly exposed to cyclones or hurricanes.