Laminating challenges in today’s markets

Stefan Hiss

Laminated safety glass based on PVB (Polyvinylbutyral) has been well known for decades. It is a composite material that combines the unique properties of glass with the benefits of a tough but highly elastic PVB interlayer, forming the well-recognized safety and security characteristics of laminated safety glass. The global demand for laminated safety glass increases and the there are more and more challenging architectural applications for the structural use of laminated safety glass. This paper presents 3 case studies of different high performance architectural applications:
 Glass Staircase – Four Seasons Center of the Performing Arts, Opera of Toronto, Canada
 Sun Protection Elements (embedded expanded metal), KfW bank main building, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
 Bomb Blast Façade, 7 World Trade Center, New York, USA
The special requirements, load conditions and test procedures are explained in the presentation next to the challenges during manufacturing.

Full text article available at a later stage [61 KB]

The Authors

Mr. Stefan Hiss Application Manager Kuraray Europe GmbH, Division Trosifol -studied chemical engineering / process engineering at the technical university of Karlsruhe, Germany -get in the glass business at BGT Bischoff Glastechnik, R&D department in 1997 -engineer at app... Read more