SUMMARY OF GLASS TYPES

There are several types of glass including:

 Float glass. Float glass is made by heating a mixture of minerals together and floating the
clear molten glass on a surface of molten tin. In general, equivalent types also known as
simple glass, annealed glass, sheet glass and plate glass. Float glass is the most common
type of glass used throughout the world.
 Annealed glass: Annealed glass is generally given to glass that is produced by a normal
mixing-heating-forming-cooling process. There are several different methods, one of
which is the float glass process, originally developed by Pilkington, and described above.
other types of annealed glass include plate glass, sheet glass, cast glass, and crown glass.
 Toughened glass. Toughened glass is made from float glass via a defined temperature
cycle. This is done by heating the glass to a high temperature and then cooling the glass
in a special way. This causes the surface of the solid glass to be under compression.
Glass is very strong under compression so toughened glass is very strong and is often
difficult to break. However, if the compressed surface is disrupted then the glass will
shatter quite easily. Toughened glass is also known as tempered glass and fortified glass.
Toughened glass is used where safety is desired and/or where protection against thermal
stress breakage is needed.
 Heat Strengthened glass. Heat Strengthened glass is made from float glass via a
temperature cycle similar to that for toughened glass. However, there are differences
including lower temperatures, so the glass is not as strong. Heat Strengthened glass is
used where some resistance to thermal stress breakage is needed but at a lower cost; this
resistance is higher than that for float glass but less than that for toughened glass.
 Laminated glass. Laminated glass is made from two layers of glass that are adhered
together by a plastic layer. Two common methods are either to use a layer of PVB
(PolyVinylButyral) or to use a cold pour resin. PVB is a sticky solid and is simply placed
between two sheets of glass. The assembly is then put into a machine and processed via a
temperature and pressure cycle to give a clear three layer product.
Alternatively, two pieces of glass are assembled together with a small gap between them
and a seal around the whole perimeter except for a small hole at the top. This assembly is
held vertically and a liquid resin poured between the two sheets. Once the gap is full the
hole is sealed up and the pane exposed to UV light, making the resin turn solid with a high
adhesion to the glass. This is termed Cast-In-Place (CIP) lamination.
The laminated structure improves the glass properties, depending upon the type and
thickness of resin used. For example, laminated glass often has resistance to human
impact, so provides safety performance; alternatively it may have resistance to manual
attack (‘Anti-Bandit’) or fire resistance properties. Obviously, thick glass can be used
and/or many layers can be built up to give thicker laminated glass with higher
performance for safety, ‘Anti-Bandit’ or even ‘Anti-Ballistic’ performance.
The most common laminated glass is two layers of 3 mm glass with a 0.4 mm layer of
PVB, giving a 6.4 mm thick laminated glass. (NB All thicknesses are nominal; often the
PVB thickness is 0.38 mm). Most laminated glass is made from sheets of float glass but
some is made from toughened and heat strengthened glass.
 Wired glass. Wired glass is generally made from two layers of float glass melted together
with a mesh of wires between the two layers. Wired glass can not be made from
toughened glass because the temperature cycle required would cause the wires to expand
and break the glass. This glass is used for fire protection – the wires help to keep the
pieces together when the glass breaks (as it will due to the heat of the fire). Most wired
glass is not safety glass. Recently (about 1998) a wired glass has been introduced that has
thicker wires in it; the wires help to keep glass pieces together upon impact. There are
special wired glasses that use laminated glass with the wire mesh between two layers of
PVB – these are a safety glass but tend to be expensive.

The following table gives a list of common glass types and their safety performance:

Glass Type Typical Break Pattern & Safety Performance

Float glass (including clear, tinted
and reflective float glass)
Heat Strengthened glass.
Toughened glass
Laminated glass
Wired glass
Breaks into sharp pieces with high risk of cutting and piercing
injuries. Generally float glass is not a safety glass.
Breaks into sharp pieces with high risk of cutting and piercing
injuries. The pieces tend to be smaller than float glass. Generally
float glass is not a safety glass.
Breaks into small dice-like particles with low risk of cutting and
piercing injuries. Toughened glass is a safety glass.
Breaks into sharp pieces but these pieces are held together by the
plastic layer inside the glass. Laminated glass is a safety glass.
Breaks into sharp pieces but these pieces are somewhat held together
by the plastic layer inside the glass. Wired glass is not a safety glass
unless the wires are thick enough for safety performance.

NB: Thicker float glass and thicker heat strengthened glass may be assumed to be safe in certain
circumstances because of the difficulty in breaking them, but this should always be verified
independently. According to current legislation, all safety glass in the UK must be marked, including
annealed glass coated with safety film. If glass is not appropriately marked then it must be assumed
that it is not a safety glass, even if measurement/testing shows it is a laminated or heat treated glass.