Glass Strengthening, Glass Protection and Armoring Systems

Glass Breakage and The Consequences

Glass Breakage and The Consequences

There are many different factors that can result in glass breakage. The nature of the event is likely to determine the type and extent of damage done to person and property. The event and the manner of breakage need to be assessed individually in order to determine the effectiveness and performance of GSS' glass strengthening and glass protection products.

Glass breakage occurs in one or more of the following ways:

Thermal stress from absorption of solar radiation.
Tensile strength from the weight of the glass itself.
Mechanical flexing stress: positive and negative pressures, wind.
Impact stress from flying objects.
Twisting stress, i.e.: building movement.

The following are a list of possible events and the likely results:

Human Impact:

One of the major causes of injury is the result of human impact: Simply, it is the act of a person unintentionally going through a pane of glass, which can cause injury. Safety glass is used where these possibilities exist. Local, State, and National safety glazing codes and legislation are enacted to help protect individuals from such occurrences. The most commonly recognized code, where safety glass is required is called ANSI- Z97 (American National Standards Institute). Types of approved safety glass are: tempered glass, laminated glass, and any glass treated with Glass Strengthening Systems film products.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that in 1995, there were over 225,000 glass related accidents in the U.S. These statistics were gathered from the emergency rooms of hospitals and doctors throughout the nation. GSS decreases and virtually eliminates injury from this type of human impact. The tensile strength of the film, coupled with its elasticity and its high resistance to shearing greatly removes, if not eliminates, the ability of a person to break through by walking, running, or falling through glass.

Natural Catastrophes:

Climatic and geographic conditions can result in a variety of events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and violent storms. Under these conditions, glass can unexpectedly and violently be subject to all the forces that can cause injury and property loss: pressure, mechanical, twisting stress, and impact. The difference between an explosion and natural born events is its duration. Unlike a single event explosion, natural catastrophes and its effects can last hours, even days. According to the National Insurance Institute, over 100,000 panes of glass were broken nationally from natural, violent events in 1999. Even lesser events are cause of major concern for the insurance industry, which paid out over a billion dollars in damage and medical claims in 1999 for minor claims unrelated to major catastrophic disasters.

GSS' film offers a highest level of glass protection against all the factors above. Even in cases where glass is broken, the film has been shown to keep the glass intact in the frame providing protection flying glass and debris as well as from wind and water damage. GSS' in-house testing has shown to keep up to 95% or more of broken and fractured glass intact to the film in the frame.

Thrown Objects:

Many windows are broken either intentionally or unintentionally by thrown objects. Whether by an errant golf ball or a smash and grab robbery attempt, the result is the same. Velocity and energy cause the glass to break.

The application of GSS' glass protection products to these windows will reduce, if not completely eliminate, both damage to people and property. GSS' polyester film and glass strengthening acrylic adhesive has a high degree of elasticity and energy shock absorbing capability. The energy at the point of impact is instantly disbursed outward to deflect the blow. In all but the severest cases the object is rejected without penetration or breakage. Even in severe cases where breakage occurs, the film keeps the glass intact eliminating a shower of glass fragments.