Glass

A breakable commodity

Mankind has been making glass since medieval times

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And those old traditional processes are still used today for boutique glass manufacture

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As glass manufacturing techniques improved, glass became available as “sheets”

Perfect for the fabrication of early window panels

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 Glass manufacture
Glass

silica
soda ash
limestone/dolomite
feldspar
cullet

Modern glass is very similar to the medieval glasses, but with better quality control and
much greater manufacturing production

Float glass process

The biggest advance was the invention of the glass float line process. In this manufacturing process liquid glass
“floats” across the top of a bath of liquid tin (the metal tin), and as the glass floats along the temperature is slowly
dropped, which results in the glass solidifying whilst the tin is still molten.

The solidified glass then runs off the end of the tin bath, and is “conditioned” in the Lehr (to remove residual stresses
in the glass sheet).

The “float line” was patented by the UK company Pilkington, and every glass float line around the world is constructed
in accordance with the Pilkington patent.

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 Modern Glass Manufacture

Please watch the following YouTube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLvA-xLNWHo

Basic Glass Types

• Annealed glass
• Toughened glass
• Heat strengthened glass

• Difference depends on manufacturing process

• Heat treatment determines the amount of residual stresses,
thus glass type

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 Annealed Glass
• During manufacture, when cooled from
viscous state, residual stresses exists
• Annealing process to relieve stresses
• Breaks in shards….will cut
• Breakage usually due to impact, thermal,
overload, movement, restraint

Toughened Glass Manufacture

And the comparison between float glass and

toughened glass

Please watch the following YouTube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq4vyQ2wjoo

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What the video does not explain particularly well is how the glass changes its properties
during the toughening process.

When float glass is heated to around 650ºC, it softens to the consistency of plasticine. In
order to prevent the glass distorting it is continuously moved back and forward on steel
rollers (to keep it as flat as possible). This continuously moving sheet of soft glass is then
blasted with cold jets of air, from all directions at once.

The cold air cools the outside skin of the glass sheet, resulting in it becoming hard again.
However the interior of the glass sheet is still hot. As the interior cools, it shrinks. But the
shrinking interior is locked in by the already hardened exterior skin. As a result the
shrinking glass core goes into tension, and the external glass skin goes into compression.

In effect, the glass sheet becomes post tensioned within itself !

Now, in order to “break” the glass in flexure the bending stresses need to overcome the
compression in the glass skin, before it can put the skin into tension (and eventually break
the glass). As a result the glass becomes about 4 to 5 times stronger !

But there are downsides to the use of toughened glass:

- If anything penetrates the external compressing zone and reaches the internal tensile
zone, the entire sheet of glass immediately shatters. As a result you cannot cut or drill
holes in toughened glass (all cutting and drilling must be carried out on the float glass
sheet before toughening).

- Even though the glass is moved back and forward during the toughening process, some
distortion still occurs in the glass. As a result toughened glass cannot be as flat as float
glass, and when looked through at an angle images can look distorted. The distortion in
toughened glass is referred to as “roller wave” (referring to the rollers that the glass
moves over in the toughening furnace).

- The toughening process does not change the modulus of elasticity of the glass (the “E”
value). So while the glass is “stronger”, it is just as “flexible” as normal float glass. As a
result there are many situations where the design of toughened glass is limited by
deflection rather than strength.

- Toughened glass can be prone to “spontaneous” breakage due to nickel sulphide

inclusions in the body of the glass. These inclusions are inert in float glass, but become
problematic once the glass has been toughened.

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 Toughened glass
• Inbuilt stresses
• Introduced by chemical or thermal methods
• Thermal toughening also known as
tempering
• Surface in compression
• Higher strength than annealed
• Breaks into small pieces..thus safety glass
• Breakage usually due to impact, impurities,
movement, overload, restraint

Nickel Sulphide
• The presence of a nickel sulphide impurity can cause spontaneous
failure in toughened glass. The nickel sulphide particle present in the
glass undergoes a phase change, often following a period of heating
such as on a sunny day, which causes the particle to increase in size by
2 - 4%. This change in volume is sufficient to shatter the glass.
• Although nickel sulphide can be present in all types of glass, failures
are mostly only observed in toughened glass. This is because only
toughened glass is highly stressed enough for the small cracks
generated by the volume change in nickel sulphide to propagate
through the entire panel.
• Nickel sulphide failures are usually identifiable from the point of
initiation of failure, which in the case of nickel sulphide has a
characteristics ‘double D’ shape. The nickel sulphide particle can
usually be found along the back of this ‘double D’.

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Securing the breakage origin point of a “spontaneously” broken glass panel

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 Impurity in glass
Nickel sulphide 60 – 150 microns

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 Heat strengthened glass
• Not tempered to the degree of toughened
glass
• Higher strength than annealed glass
• Lower strength than toughened glass
• Breakage normally due to impact, restraint,
movement, overload
• Does not suffer from nickel sulphide
breakages

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 Lamination
• All three types of glass can be laminated
• Plastic interlayer PVB (polyvinyl butyral)
• Commonly used for:
• Installations for grade A safety glass
• Security glazing
• Optical flatness
• Acoustic attenuation

Laminated Glass Manufacture

Please watch the following YouTube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgFAzJNthZs

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Laminated Glass is Often Used
for Security

Watch the following YouTube clips:

Sledgehammer test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EibjrMy1TtI

Gunshot Test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSzAxV-maS4
(only in America !)

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Whilst laminated glass
is a wonderful
product, it can be
prone to delamination
problems.

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Glass can be a dangerous product !

and by dangerous I mean

potentially deadly

The great clarity of glass is its greatest benefit.

But it is also why it can be so dangerous.

Please watch the following YouTube clips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebdZIh0U4Os
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgCPyi2KOho

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 Float (annealed) glass
is particularly
dangerous, as when it
breaks the glass edges
are razor sharp.

A fall through an
annealed glass sheet
can easily sever a
major artery (or even
chop off an arm or a
leg).

Gruesome stuff, and

every year there are
deaths that occur due
to accidental impact
with glass.

The Problem Child in Cladding

Great to see through, but .. .. ..

- If it is hot outside, it is a battle to keep the heat out,

- If it is cold outside, it is a battle to keep the heat in,

- And if it is noisy outside, it is a battle to keep it quiet

inside,

- And if it lets too much light in, then you get a headache !

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And then to make things harder .. ..

The glass is often one of the most important

visual elements of a façade, so it also needs
to be the right;

- Colour
- Reflectance
- Flatness

As a result, Architects tend to be

heavily involved in glass
selection

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Now, before we take a break

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 Standard Site Workmanship
Tests

• Flood Test

• ASTM 501 - Site hose test

• The Weather

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 Break
10 min max
please

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 The nature of architects

The glass selection process needs to identify

the “best fit” for all these often conflicting
requirements.

As a result, it is often a long and exhausting

process .. .. .. ..

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 Key Design Considerations

• 1 – Solar Energy

• 2 – Thermal Insulation

• 3- Acoustic Insulation

Solar Energy
- Light + Heat

- visual light + infrared + ultraviolet

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How does glass react to Solar Energy ?

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For clear glass, this becomes;

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 For architectural glass,
Solar Energy performance is measured as;

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We can improve the Shading Coefficient by
modifying;
- glass absorbance (body tints)
- reflectance (reflective coatings)
- re-radiation (low-e coatings)

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 Coatings
• 1st Generation Coatings
- hard coats (in-line coatings)
- original hard coats were highly reflective,
but modern hard coats focus on Low-E
performance

• 2nd Generation Coatings

- soft coats (splutter coating)

1st Generation Reflective Coatings

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 Hard Coats
• Applied during float glass manufacture

• “Fired in” process (“pyrolitic” process)

• Relatively hard and durable

• Limited performance characteristics

Low-e Hard Coat Issues

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 Splutter Coats
• Also known as “soft coats”

• Applied after original glass manufacture

- “off-line” process

• Is delicate, very easily damaged

- must be laminated or
- must be in a DGU

• Properties can be “customised” for optimum performance

(reflectance and low-e)

The Sputtering Process

• Sputtering is a Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) process.
• A “Target” consisting of material to be deposited is placed
near the substrate to be coated, in an evacuated chamber.
• A high voltage is applied between the target (cathode) and a
copper anode. Both are cooled internally with chilled water.
• A small amount of inert “process gas” (usually Argon) is
introduced near the surface of the target, where it is ionized
by the electric field.
• The resulting plasma ion cloud is confined to a region near
the target surface using powerful electro-magnets.
• The positively charged gas ions are accelerated towards the
negatively charged target surface. The free electrons flow
to the copper anode.

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 The Sputtering Process (Cont’d)
• The gas ions (nuclei that have been stripped of their
electrons) “smash” into the surface of the target material at
high velocity.
• Atoms of the target material are literally “knocked” out of
the target as a result of momentum transfer from the
energetic incoming gas ions.
• The ejected target atoms leave the target at high speed and
collide with the nearby substrate surface, forming a coating
layer on the substrate (e.g. glass).
• Coating thickness varies with substrate speed past the target
and the sputter rate.

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Flat Glass Sputtering Process

Leybold Coater

The technology (and cost) of a splutter coating line is quite impressive, and a single
piece of plant can easily cost over US $20million

(yes, that is one coating line, from the front of the picture all the way to the back of
the picture)

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 Von Ardenne Coater

Some Typical Sputtered Glass Coatings

• Stainless Steel
- Highly reflective vision, spandrel.
• Nickel-Chromium
- Reflective vision, spandrel.
• Copper Alloys
- Reflective vision, spandrel.
• Titanium Nitride
- Low to medium reflectance vision, spandrel.
• Tin Oxide / Silver / Tin Oxide
- Clear Low-E Vision. Laminated or DGU.
• Indium Oxide / Silver / Indium Oxide / Silver / Indium Oxide
- Clear Solar Control. Low reflectance. Laminated or DGU.
• Indium / Tin Oxide (“ITO”)
- Electrically conductive (heatable) clear glass.

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 Typical Features of Sputtered Coatings
• Also known as “Soft” or “Off-Line” coatings.
• The coating forms a layer adhering to the glass surface.
(unlike “pyrolitic” or “hard” coatings which are wholly
embedded into the glass surface).
• Coatings containing silver or other corrosion-prone metals
need to be laminated or made into DGUs to prevent
oxidation.
• Coatings made of soft materials also need to be laminated
or built into DGUs to prevent mechanical damage.
• Sputtered coatings offer better performance than pyrolitics
due to the ability to form thicker layers as well as multi-
layer constructions and with a greater choice of materials.
• Sputtered coatings are more expensive than pyrolitics and
come in limited dimensions governed by chamber size.

Thermal Insulation
• The ability to prevent heat transfer through
the glass

• Is not related to Solar Energy

• Expressed as “U-value” (W/m²K°)

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How Does It All Come Together ?

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 Typical Performance Data
Glass Build Vis Light Reflect SC U-value

Single Pane

6mm clear 87 % 8% .95 5.9

6mm grey 43 % 5% .69 6.3

body tint

6mm hard coat 21 % 17 % .36 5.3

6 / 12 / 6 DGU’s

no coatings 76 % 14 % .83 2.8

coated 19 % 19 % .25 2.5
high performance 34 % 12 % .36 2.0
high reflective 8% 37 % .13 1.9

Acoustic Insulation

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 Australian Energy Efficiency Requirements
In 2008 the Rudd Federal Government was unable to introduce a price on carbon.

At the same time, the energy being consumed by buildings was escalating year by year, at
an alarming rate.

As there was no market mechanism to price carbon (and create an incentive for energy
efficiency), the Australian governments became quite concerned. As a result, COAG
(Council of Australian Governments) instructed ABCB (Australian Building Codes Board)
to do something about it !

As a result, the ABCB introduced mandatory energy efficiency provisions into the Building
Code of Australia (known as “Section J” of the BCA).

Section J of the BCA is the only part of the BCA that is not focussed on safety, and so quite
an odd inclusion (all because Australia could not agree to put a price on carbon).

Over the years Section J has become more and more complex, to the point that a whole new
industry of experts has been created just to work out how to apply it. And often even they
do not know how the Section J calculations work, as they are worked out with online
“calculators”.

And the adoption of Section J requirements has led to new problems due to the wholesale
use of insulation in walls and ceilings without any thought on its effect on condensation.

Australian Building Codes Board

Energy Efficiency Provisions

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NCC/BCA Section J

Defines Energy Provisions

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 Energy Compliance Implications

The nasty bits that no one talks about

We can achieve remarkable energy efficiency with out high performance glass coatings and
hermetically sealed double glazed units.

However:

- The cost of the technology is high.

- The application of metallic coatings to the glass prevent the glass from being recycled
into new glass, as it is now “contaminated”. So during demolition works coated glass
either has to be dumped in a contaminated materials dump, or crushed up to use as
aggregate in bitumen or concrete.

- The life of hermetically sealed double glazed units is dependent upon the integrity of the
sealant between the two glass sheets. This sealant has a limited life, and as a result
double glazed assemblies start to fail (“fog up”) after 10 to 15 years.

- In residential construction, regardless of how energy efficient the glass is, if the design
of the residence does not allow cross-flow ventilation to relieve the heat build-up, then
the only way to maintain a reasonable temperature in a warm climate is to install an air
conditioner (openable windows are ineffective without cross-flow ventilation).

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