Learn about insulating glass in 2 minutes

1 What is insulating glass?

Insulating glass refers to two or more sheets of flat glass separated by a frame, sealed by gluing, welding or welding on all sides, and filled with dry air or other gases. Initially, insulating glass refers to double-layer insulating glass.

2 Basic structure of insulating glass

The main materials of insulating glass are glass, spacers, corner bolts, butyl rubber, polysulfide glue, and desiccant.

(1) Spacers

The spacers are not only the storage bags of molecular sieves, helping the molecular sieves absorb water vapor, protecting the adhesive from sunlight and extending its service life, but also the skeleton of the hollow layer of insulating glass, which has the function of evenly separating and supporting the two sheets of glass. It is also the key to the evolution of the performance of the glass edge, and dominates the second half of the improvement of the thermal insulation performance of insulating glass.

(2) Desiccant

Molecular sieve is an ideal adsorbent for insulating glass. It is a porous structure with a very large internal surface area. It has affinity for both water and solvents

The functions of molecular sieves are as follows:

1) Absorb moisture in the hollow layer during production;

2) Absorb volatile organic solutes in the hollow layer during production and organic solutes that enter the hollow layer during use;

3) Maintain a low dew point in the hollow glass to extend the service life of the hollow glass;

4) Ensure the beauty and light transmittance of the hollow glass;

5) Prevent the possibility of hollow glass from twisting and deforming and bursting under different temperature changes;

6) Prevent corrosion of the spacer strip;

7) Ensure that the desiccant is adsorbed on the pipe wall when the machine is filled.

(1) Sealant

The first sealant often uses butyl rubber as an adhesive. Butyl rubber includes butyl rubber or isobutyl rubber (polyisobutylene). It is a black plastic glue with permanent plasticity. It feels sticky when touched at room temperature and has good water vapor penetration resistance. The second sealant uses two-component polysulfide rubber.

Sealant has an important impact on the quality and service life of insulating glass, and even on safety issues. Improper selection of the second sealant may cause two types of problems:

1) Loss of the original function of insulating glass;

2) Safety issues, that is, the outer sheet of insulating glass falls off.

3 What are the advantages of insulating glass?

Insulating glass has the advantages of good heat insulation, sound insulation, beautiful and practical, anti-frost, anti-condensation, and reduced building weight.

Optical properties: Insulating glass can have different optical properties.

Thermal insulation performance: The thermal insulation performance of insulating glass can even be better than that of concrete walls.

Sound insulation performance: Insulating glass can generally reduce noise by 30-44dB, and traffic noise by 31-38 dB, which can reduce the sound of street cars to the quiet level required by school classrooms.

Safety performance: Insulating glass can improve the safety performance of glass.

4 History of the development of insulating glass

Insulating glass was invented by Americans in 1865, developed during the First and Second World Wars, industrial production and application began after World War II, and was widely used in the 1970s and 1980s. The development of insulating glass in building doors and windows can also be said to be an innovation in spacing (sealing) technology.