Why use laminated glass?

In home construction or in other building projects, the benefits of using laminated glass include:
• Safety
• Security
• Sound Reduction
• Solar Energy Control
• UV Control
• Weather/Natural Disasters
• Durability
• Design Versatility
• Installation Ease
• Low Visible Distortion

We detail the top three reasons below.

Safety

Ordinary window glass is brittle, breaking into long sharp pieces which can cause serious and sometimes fatal injuries. The principal feature of laminated safety glass is its performance under impact. DuPont interlayers absorb the energy of the impact, resisting penetration. Although the glass may break, the glass fragments remain firmly bonded to the interlayer, minimizing the risk of injuries. Little wonder that laminated glass is mandatory for automotive windshields in almost every industrialized country in the world and increasingly specified or required in architectural glazing.

In glass skylights, sun spaces, sloped glazing installations and curtain walls, there is always the possibility of glass breakage. Without laminated glass, that could mean a big safety problem caused by falling glass. Unlike all types of monolithic glass, laminated glass remains intact when broken, protecting people from injury. This is why many building codes worldwide require laminated glass for overhead glazing.

Security

Burglars often break windows to get to door and window handles, and laminated glass can resist their intrusion. Even if it is accidentally broken, the interlayer continues to safeguard the building until the glass is replaced. Reglazing can be done when convenient, rather than during expensive after-hours. Laminated glass can be designed to withstand bullets and bomb blasts by using multiple or thick layers of glass and interlayer. In prisons, laminated security glass can replace traditional bars to create a more humane environment.
The rise in urban crime and terrorism has created a need for glazing materials that enable people to carry on normally and be protected from harm. Laminated glass made up of several glass sheets and interlayers can provide protection in medium to high security applications. For extra security, including armoring of vehicles, DuPont offers SentryGlas® Plus interlayers with 100 times the stiffness and 5 times the toughness of traditional interlayers.

Sound reduction

Noise, just like a burglar, gains easiest entry to homes and buildings through windows. Laminated glass has proven to be an excellent barrier to noise, having a higher sound reduction index than monolithic glass of equal thickness between the frequencies of 125Hz and 4,000Hz. This sound dampening is due to the “viscoelastic” properties of the interlayer material. The coincidence effect experienced with monolithic glass at certain frequencies is also considerably reduced with laminated glass, and the noise reduction performance of IG units can be greatly improved by incorporating at least one layer of laminated glass.Tailored for noise control applications, DuPont™ SentryGlas® Acoustic™ sound reduction interlayers are available.