The primary reason for using laminated glass is safety. It is a composite glass product created by sandwiching one or more layers of organic polymer interlayers (typically PVB, polyvinyl butyral) between two or more layers of glass, which are then bonded together permanently through high-temperature, high-pressure processing.
Below are the detailed reasons and advantages for choosing laminated glass:
1. Exceptional Safety (Core Advantage)
This is the primary and most important function of laminated glass.
Impact Resistance and Shatter Resistance: When subjected to external impact, even if the glass breaks, the fragments are held in place by the interlayer, preventing them from scattering. This significantly reduces the risk of glass fragments causing cuts or puncture wounds to the human body.
Integrity: After breaking, the glass surface forms a “spiderweb-like” crack pattern, but most fragments remain in place without detaching, maintaining a cohesive structure that provides a temporary protective barrier.
2. Excellent anti-theft and anti-violent intrusion performance
Difficult to penetrate: Due to the extremely high toughness of the intermediate film, even if the glass is shattered, intruders would need to spend a significant amount of time and effort to chisel a hole, effectively delaying the intrusion time and increasing the difficulty of theft. It is often used in conjunction with anti-theft windows and alarm systems to enhance security levels.
3. Natural hurricane-resistant, earthquake-resistant, and explosion-resistant performance
Wind pressure and flying debris resistance: In hurricane and typhoon-prone regions, laminated glass maintains its structural integrity even when shattered by flying debris in strong winds, preventing the formation of high-speed glass shard storms indoors and safeguarding the safety of occupants. It is a mandatory or recommended choice for buildings in storm-prone areas.
Explosion shockwave resistance: Used in government buildings, embassies, banks, and other structures with special security requirements, it can withstand explosion shockwave loads, preventing glass fragments from becoming “secondary shrapnel” and causing further harm.
4. Excellent sound insulation performance
Effective noise reduction: The PVB film in the middle acts as a damping material, effectively absorbing and reducing sound wave vibrations. Compared to ordinary glass of the same thickness, laminated glass offers superior sound insulation performance, particularly for mid-to-high-frequency noises (such as traffic noise or speech), creating a quieter indoor environment.
5. UV protection
Protect indoor items: The PVB film in the middle blocks over 99% of UV rays, effectively preventing indoor furniture, carpets, curtains, artwork, and other items from fading or aging due to UV exposure.
6. Diverse Design and Functional Expansions
Decorative: Laminated glass can not only incorporate transparent PVB film but also colored films, patterns, fabrics, silk, and more, creating various decorative effects. It is widely used in interior partitions, ceilings, railings, and other designs.
Combination with other functions: Laminated glass can be easily combined with Low-E (low-emissivity) film and hollow structures to form “laminated hollow glass.” This composite product simultaneously possesses top-tier performance in safety, energy efficiency, and sound insulation, making it the preferred choice for high-performance architectural glass.
Summary
Choosing laminated glass is essentially an investment in safety. Although it is more expensive than ordinary glass, the personal safety protection, property theft protection, noise control, and rich design possibilities it offers make it an indispensable safety material in automotive, architectural, and special application fields.
In simple terms:
Ordinary glass: shatters completely, posing a significant danger.
Tempered glass: Shatters into small particles, relatively safe, but may detach entirely.
Laminated glass: Does not detach even when shattered, stays intact, the safest option.
If you need to use glass in any environment with safety risks, laminated glass is typically the mandatory choice.