Modern design idea has no boundaries, while pushing manufacturers of building materials to create new components and technologies for their production. One such material is molded glass. This material has become a serious assistant in construction and design art.
What is glass bending?
At the moment, the principles of processing and manufacturing glass have taken a very long way. In connection with the emergence of huge demand for non-standard types of glass products, manufacturers have developed new methods for the manufacture of glass products, bent over a certain radius. Bending, or bending, of glass is a complex process. It comes from the Latin word mollio - "melt, soften." In this process, specialized equipment is used, on which appropriately trained highly qualified personnel work.
The process of bending glass - bending - is carried out under the influence of temperature, while the glass is deformed with the help of other objects, it bends under its weight. Extraneous exposure can damage the workpiece and lead to marriage, glass breakage in the furnace, etc. The billet is heated and sharply cooled by a stream of cold air, while the molded glass retains a bent shape and acquires increased strength due to tempering. Bending is performed both on industrial equipment and at home.
Industrial production
Industrial bending occurs in furnaces under the influence of high temperature, which is different and varies depending on the thickness of the glass. Consider the example of bending of common glass with a thickness of 4 mm. The process takes place at a temperature of 660 ° C and may take time from 2-3 minutes. Before heating, the glass blank is cut according to the declared dimensions, depending on further processing, a so-called allowance of up to about 3 mm per side is allowed.
Edging is carried out in a simple way using a tape machine, on which two tapes with abrasive material under a stream of water relieve edge stress from the glass. This is necessary to avoid glass breakage under the influence of high temperatures. With complex machining, the edge is initially given the shape of a trapezoid or round, then it is ground and polished to a certain size (this requires a small allowance, since a small layer of the workpiece material is removed during processing).
After processing, the glass is washed from glass dust and debris, dirt. Next, the furnace operator performs a visual inspection and loading the workpiece into the furnace on a special form, which is selected according to the conditions of the order.
Home Production
Glass molding at home is only possible with small blanks. Heating is done using gas burners according to the local principle. Heating a certain place to a characteristic bright red color, produce a bend to a certain radius. In this case, if it did not work out to bend to the desired radius, they are heated repeatedly. A sharp bend can lead to a workpiece battle.
Home bending is mainly carried out by private glass producers and designers for the manufacture of special orders and decorative elements. Sometimes miniature furnaces are used to heat the workpiece to 600 ° C, which simplifies the bending process. Manually crafting can be given even more interesting and intricate shapes and cuts, which makes home molding more expensive.
The properties
The properties of curved glass directly depend on the starting material and its thickness, as well as the size of the workpiece. The technology of glass bending is applicable to both transparent and colored glass, the coated material is bent only by special orders, if the architectural task requires such a solution. The surface is not subject to change, the finished curved glass remains as smooth as the original blank. The optical properties practically do not change, since the thickness of the material also remains unchanged.
The bending process gives the glass an intricate shape, the rays of light pass through the bends of the finished material, giving it a certain game, which was adopted by the designers. After heating, the workpiece acquires increased strength - about 4 times more than the original, and also becomes safe (when broken, it splits into small fragments that do not harm the person, like, say, raw, non-tempered glass). These characteristics give it an even greater advantage when choosing a material for glazing complex architectural facades.
Application
Molded glass is used to create aesthetics of architectural structures, where it is possible or necessary to use it. Also, glass units for facade glazing and entrance door groups are made from it. Tempered bent glass is widely used for the manufacture of front extension groups and glass lamps.
Single curved glass is widely used in the manufacture of:
- showers;
- shop windows in shopping malls;
- office partitions;
- architectural cladding of facades of buildings, loggias and balconies;
- the manufacture of railings for stairwells, as well as elevator cabins;
- furniture shelves and interior glazing.