Flat glass or flute glass is smooth and flat glass without waves, which has a special production process. In the production of flute glass, after removing the glass from the furnace, it is floated inside the molten tin. Flute glass is also known as cup or untempered glass in the market and is mostly used in the building industry due to the absence of bends and waves. In this article, we will examine flat glass.
Flute glass is the simplest and the first product in the glass industry, which is produced in various thicknesses between 2 and 20 mm, but the thickness of 4 to 12 mm is the most widely used in the construction industry due to the environmental conditions.
Flat or flute glass
Flute glass is a wave-free and completely smooth glass that after the glass comes out of the furnace to make it smooth and flat and thickened, the glass is immersed in the molten tin pool until it becomes a flute glass. Another name is flute glass, untempered cup glass, which is the most widely used in the building facade industry today.
Flute glass or flat glass is the most basic form of produced glass. Flute glass is produced and supplied in different thicknesses from 2 mm to more than 20 mm.
Due to its special production method, flute glass is often without waves and bends, for this reason it is widely used in buildings and especially windows.
Flute glass can be used in a primary form or in a processed form and increase new functions.
Features of flute glass
*These glasses have a very smooth and polished surface and according to the production method, they do not have heterogeneity in diameter.
*Because of this uniformity, this product is used to make high quality mirrors.
*These products, as raw and untempered glass, have the basic and most fragile structure of building glass, and through heat treatment and adding protective layers, they are transformed into glass in other models.
*Although this product can be produced in thicknesses of 2 to 25 mm, they are mainly processed and used in thicknesses of 4 to 8 mm.
*Due to the production method that leads to uniform and unlimited glass processing, the production of these products is more economical than the production of simple glass with other methods.
Advantages of flute glass
Today, the flute glass produced by its special processes has countless benefits and advantages, which makes the choice and use of flute glass to increase day by day. The advantages of flute glass are:
- High production capacity of flute glass compared to plain and old glass
- In terms of quality of light, flute glass can be compared with grade 1 polished glass.
- Flute glass can be produced in different designs.
- It creates a beautiful and stylish facade of buildings.
- Insulation against sound and energy loss
Application of flat glass
The applications of flat or flute glass are:
- It is widely used in the construction and mirror industry.
- Making a glass staircase in the form of laminate
- Facade decoration and interior and exterior decoration of buildings
- Making large and home aquariums
- Can be used processed
- * Sound and thermal insulation
Flat glass production process
In general, glass production is done in three ways, which are: stretching method, rolling method and floating method. The first two methods were gradually abandoned due to the problems that existed in the final product, and now the production of glass by the floating method is the attention of the manufacturers.
In this method, molten glass is poured on the surface of molten metal and flute glass is produced. The molten metal used as a substrate for molten glass is usually tin, because in addition to its better viscosity than other metals such as lead, it has the lowest vapor pressure and the lowest reaction rate with molten glass at 1050 degrees.
Of course, in order to prevent oxidation of tin and its precipitation to glass, special conditions must be provided for the tin pool, which includes creating a protected environment using nitrogen and hydrogen. Molten glass enters the molten tin pool after de-bubble and during the preparation process. The amount of glass on the molten tin is controlled using a tweel tool which is a suspended and movable wall.
Finally, a waveless and flat glass is produced. By fluctuating the flow, roller speed, and different temperatures on the glass, they produce various thicknesses of glass. Regarding the dimensions of flute glass, it should be said that these glasses are usually produced with a width of 3 meters.
Colored flute glass
Colored flute glasses have the most diverse range of colors in the market. Colored glasses contain metal oxides or metal powders that are added to them when they are molten and depending on the metal, the glass takes on a specific color. In other words, in the modification of glass manufacturers, the color of the metal spreads in the glass mass and overcomes the transparency of the glass, as a result, the glass becomes colored.
One of the characteristics of colored glass is the reduction of light transmission. The amount of light passing through this type of glass also depends on the color and thickness of the glass. You may have seen blue glass, this color is obtained from the addition of cobalt metal. Among the metals that can be used in colored glass, we can mention chrome, cobalt, copper, sulfur, cadmium, iron oxide, tin, etc.
The difference between flute glass and plain glass
Flute glass is produced from sea sand, soda ash, quartz sand powder and dolomite in specific proportions. These materials are melted at high temperature in the furnace and then immersed in the pool of molten tin. After determining the thickness and its uniformity, the glass is cooled. But simple glass is composed of the raw materials of stone powder, silica, soda ash and potassium fossil in certain proportions, these materials are heated in a furnace to melt, and then the production process goes through the vertical and smoothing method.
The thickness of flute glass is from 2.5 to 20 mm, and plain glass is produced with a thickness of 2 to 6 mm. Plain glass is very fragile and has low transparency. Also, it has little stability against weather changes, so its quality will decrease in case of rain and sunshine, but flute glass is completely smooth and without waves on both sides and has a stable quality.
Differences between flute glass and plain glass
* Simple glass is produced from materials such as silica, stone powder, potassium fossil, soda ash, pear salt and other raw materials with certain proportions, and their combination, and in a melting furnace at high temperature by the method of verticalizing and smoothing the surface. It is smooth and colorless and is produced from 2-6 mm thick.
* Sea sand, quartz sandstone powder, soda ash, dolomite, etc. are used in the production of flute glass. Each of the materials is melted in a furnace at a very high temperature in specific proportions to form liquid glass, and after floating in the flute bath and determining the thickness and uniformity of the thickness, it is polished by the glass belt and cooled after hardening. . The surface of flute glass is very smooth and it is produced with a diameter of 2.5-20.
* The difference between fluted and plain glass is that plain glass does not have much transparency and is fragile and changes color under the influence of rain and loses the quality of its appearance. But in flute glass, both sides of the glass are smooth and uniform, without waves and high posts, and it creates a beautiful view.
The difference between tempered glass and flute glass
Due to the special production method, flute glass is completely flat and free of any waves and bends, the main reason for using this type of glass in the construction industry of glass, windows and doors is its flatness, due to the basic method of producing flute glass. It is used as a raw material for many new applications, including the production of tempered glass.
Ordinary glass, tempered glass and flute glass are all flat, with the difference that flute glass is completely smooth and there are no scratches, lines or bubbles in its textures, and the reason for this purity and non-distortion is the use of special production methods with heat. . As a result, the main difference between tempered glass and flute glass is their production method, and as a result, due to the production method, their use is different, which has caused differences between these two types.
