The float strengthened glass is the float glass also known as safety glass. It is about any type of glass manufactured by the floating process, where the raw material is almost liquefied and lay over a bed of melted stain, floating and spreading itself down, seeking its natural level, being shaped as a flat and continuous sheet. While sliding controlled and slowly along the course of hundreds of meters, the dough will naturally cooling. Fueled, in sequence, to the annealing furnace, undergoes to a standard heat treatment – annealing. The surface is inspected for quality control, for computers, and finally cut into sheets. The final thickness is defined by varying the speed at which the sheet moves in the path.
The process produces a float glass surface without ripples, eliminating then the visual impairment inherent to the previous process, called “stretch”, since the frit glass is literally dragged over the rollers.
The color of the sheet can then be chosen and cut in the shape and size as desired. Then comes the stoning, the cutting and drilling if is necessary. After these operations, the piece of glass follows for strengthening.
The glass is placed horizontally or vertically n the furnace, ensuring that the piece does not have the undesirable mark clamps, and subjected to a temperature about 600ºC. At this point, it receives a quenching through a system that blows pressurized air over it, generating a state of tension.
The strengthening process is irreversible. Once strengthened, the glass cannot suffer any kind of cutting, stoning or drilling.