Blog Introduction Architectural Glass Lamination
Dear Reader,
When I started in 1985 in Technical Service Butacite® (after a career (also at DuPont) in R&D on car paints), almost no computers were available.
Hence all presentations were made on “transparencies”. Often graphs were drawn by hand as well as text was written by hand.
I had the privilege to have a “department computer”.
So, I started using that to produce “more professionally looking presentations”.
This way I became the “king of commuting (I worked in Geneva but lived in Belgium) and computing” (as my business manager used to call me).
Making technical presentations became my second nature (half of my family used to work in school education, so it must have been in my genes or my blood).
In view of this I decided to write a (detailed) architectural laminating guide. But rather then creating booklet ”number 55”, I rather opt for writing a blog and search for communications.
So, the goal of this document (and the ones to follow) is to create a communication tool around architectural lamination of glass.
When we look at glass lamination, there are 3 basic systems:
· Nip roller system
· Vacuum bag system
· Autoclave free system
Nip roller system is the most widely spread technology and is used for small to jumbo (or larger) flat laminates (600 X 321 cm). The laminates are mostly simple glass constructions of 2 glasses and one PVB layer (although I have produced laminates with various PVB/glass layers (up to 80 mm of laminate thickness). This system can be highly automated and as a consequence can achieve high productivity (tack-time as low as 40 seconds = every 40 seconds a laminate can leave the line).
Vacuum bag process is used for complex constructions and shapes. Often the cost of the raw materials exceeds the cost of lamination and as a consequence one is looking for a system with the highest degree of lamination success. So, lamination of tempered/semi tempered glass happens very often in vacuum bags (specially when combined with holes in the glass). This technology used to be applied on smaller laminates, but these days the same (glass) limit exist as for nip roller systems (even larger).
As one can imagine, this is a more labor-intensive process with lower productivity then nip rollers. But (if properly executed) the chances for perfect laminates is very close to 100 %.
Autoclave Free Process: To laminate one needs temperature, pressure and time. If the available pressure is low (lower than 1 bar — vacuum inside of the bag and ambient pressure outside), time can be used to compensate the lack of higher pressure.
Optical quality does not pass the automotive stringent quality requirements but fits the architectural ones. Due to the longer processing time (inside the vacuum bags/rings) the productivity is low and manpower intensive but also the investment is on the low side.
One can imagine that productivity can vary a lot between a few laminates per day to some 6 million Square meters per year (with a name plate capacity exceeding the double of the current productivity).
Blog subject/concept:
In the next session(s), I would like to take you through these 3 processes in detail, going from glass and PVB requirements to design concepts.
I am also planning to handle also structural and acoustic laminated glasses, as well as curved/(cold or warm) bent laminated glass.
I would like to use this blog as a communication tool, so feel free to ask/comment/disagree… with my observations/knowledge or suggest subjects/concepts.
I am looking forwards to a monthly communication/”discussion” on PVB/glass lamination.
Sincerely yours,
Luc A. Moeyersons
LAMI-Solutions
