Laminated Glass: A Safer Choice for Homes and Commercial Buildings

Glass adds beauty and allows natural light into our homes and workplaces, but it also poses inherent safety risks. Regular glass can easily break into sharp shards if struck with force. Laminated glass addresses this issue by bonding two or more sheets of glass with a clear plastic interlayer, making it more resistant to breaking and less likely to cause injury if it does break. In this article, we will explore the benefits of laminated glass and how it can provide enhanced safety and security.
What is Laminated Glass?
Laminated glass consists of two or more glass sheets bonded together by a thin layer of plastic vinyl polymer interlayer such as polyvinyl butyral (PVB). The interlayer binds the panes together into a single composite element. A key feature is that if broken or shattered, the pieces tend to cling or adhere to the plastic interlayer rather than separating into dangerous shards. The end result is a structural sandwich that is resistant to breaking into sharp, flying fragments.
Safety Benefits
One of the main advantages of laminated glass is safety. Regular annealed or tempered glass breaks into large, jagged pieces when shattered, posing serious laceration hazards. Laminated glass, by contrast, tends to crack and spiderweb if broken but keeps the pieces adhered together for safety. This makes it ideally suited for applications where safety and security are priorities such as for windows, entrance doors, storefronts, and windshields.
Specifically, laminated glass helps provide:
- Blast resistance - The bonded construction helps prevent glass shrapnel and flying shards during explosions. This makes it useful in buildings in high-risk areas.
- Bullet resistance - When rated for safety performance, laminated glass can resist bullets and gunshots, providing ballistic protection for banks, embassies, and other secure facilities.
- Fall prevention - The composition deters injury from broken glass shards if something heavy falls against a window or door pane. This is important for buildings with high elevations and child safety.
- Anti-ligature properties - Laminated glass reduces risks of self-harm in healthcare and corrections facilities by preventing individuals from using broken glass edges to harm themselves.
Security Benefits
In addition to safety, Laminated Glass improves security by being more difficult to break through or shatter than regular annealed glass. The multilayer design yields a stronger, more resilient barrier that deters unlawful entry attempts. Common scenarios where it enhances protection include:
- Forcing entry - It takes much more concentrated force to break through laminated panes with tools like crowbars compared to standard glass. This thwarts some break-in attempts.
- Vandal resistance - Graffiti artists and vandals will have a tougher time breaking windows with rocks, bricks, baseball bats, or other projectiles that may go through regular panes.
- Burglar deterrence - Laminated glass is visibly thicker and stronger-looking which can discourage opportunistic criminals from targeting a property protected by it.
Additional Benefits of Laminated Glass
Beyond safety and security advantages, laminated glass provides some complementary performance benefits:
- Sound insulation - The plastic interlayer assists with attenuating exterior noise intrusion into buildings for quieter indoor environments.
- Thermal efficiency - Its layered construction better insulates temperature regulation inside, lowering heating/cooling costs in all climates.
- Impact resistance - The bonded assembly is less prone to chipping or cracking from hail, stones, falling tree limbs etc. preserving aesthetic integrity.
- UV protection - UV rays that deteriorate furnishings are filtered out through the chemical bonding for longer product lifespan.
- Design versatility - Clear or tinted interlayers allow a wide range of aesthetic designs including curved, textured and patterned applications.
Manufacturing Laminated Glass
The production process generally involves first cleaning glass sheets before applying a sticky adhesive PVB film onto the surfaces using rollers. The prepared glass panes are then sandwiched together under heat and pressure to melt and cure the binder into a unitary solid composite. Edge deletion details for fittings are completed and final QA inspections done prior to shipping for projects. Automated lines can rapidly fill volume orders while craft shops handle bespoke specialty shapes. Proper handling and installation also ensure long-term performance.