During the float glass manufacturing process, the hot glass is gently cooled in the “annealing lehr”, which releases any internal stresses from the glass to enable the cutting and further processing of the glass post manufacture.
Surface-coated glass which minimizes light reflectance and appears therefore to show virtually no visual reflection.
A barrier or form of guarding, generally waist-height, which protects people from falling where there is a change in floor level, for example stairs and balconies.
Transparent float glass with a consistent colour throughout its depth.
Security glazing affording a defined resistance against the firing of specified weapons and ammunition.
Glass with increased resistance to mechanical or thermal stress, produced by a process of ion exchange.
Glass, which is curved in form, produced by heating it to its softening point, so that it takes the shape of the mould. Annealed, toughened and laminated glass is available in curved form.
Two panes of glass, separated by a cavity and hermetically sealed in a factory, to provide thermal insulation.
One face of the glass is enamelled, by applying a ceramic frit that is then fired into the surface of the glass at high temperature. Depending on the cooling regime employed, it then results in either a heat-strengthened or thermally toughened glass.
High quality, transparent flat glass manufactured by means of the float tank procedure, that is, floating molten glass on a “tin-bath” at extremely high temperature.
Glass which has been heat-treated in order to increase its mechanical strength and resistance to thermal breakage. It has fracture characteristics similar to that of ordinary annealed glass and is not classed as a safety glass to BS 6206.
Two or more sheets of annealed or heat treated glass are separated by one or more plastic interlayers (normally PVB) and subjected to heat and pressure, in order to ensure perfect adhesion between constituent elements.
Translucent patterned glass, manufactured by rolling heat-softened glass between embossed cylinders.
A specialist metallic coating is applied to the glass “on-line” during the float glass manufacturing process. The high temperatures involved result in the metallic oxides fusing into the surface of the glass through pyrolysis and effectively forming part of the glass.
A metallic coating is applied to one side of the glass in order to significantly increase the amount of reflection by the glass of both the visible and infra-red (light and heat) range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Glass which must have passed an impact test (BS 6206: 1981) and either must not break or must break safely.
Enamelling the surface of a sheet of glass, either partially or completely, by means of a silk-screen and thermal toughening.
An advanced metallic coating is applied to the glass “off-line” or after the float glass manufacturing process, by a technique called magnetically enhanced cathodic sputtering under vacuum conditions.
Glass that has been subjected to a controlled heating and cooling process, in order to significantly increase its resistance to mechanical and thermal stress. Through the thermal toughening process, the glass attains its safe-breakage characteristics.
Glass produced by continuous casting and rolling, with a steel mesh welded at all intersections, embedded into the glass during the manufacturing process. The surfaces may be patterned or polished.