Glass from sand to skyscraper
description
Transcript of Glass from sand to skyscraper
GLASS FROM SAND TO SKYSCRAPER
Best Buy Headquarters in Provo, Utah
Most glass is comprised of silica that comes from fine white sand or pulverized sandstone and a small amount of alkali like soda (sodium bicarbonate) or potash or recycled glass to lower its melting point, lime is added to stabilize and strengthen it and also to make it water resistant. It is then heated to 2500
degrees for up to 24 hours then cooled several hundred degrees to work with.
HOW GLASS IS MADE
Sheets of glass or Float glass is manufactured in a unique way because the molten glass is formed by
floating it on a bed of molten tin kept at high temperature. The glass spreads out and flattens,
and is then drawn out into a continuous glass ribbon. The surface of the glass winds up being
extremely smooth, with a brilliant finish like sheet glass, plus the optical quality of plate glass.
HOW LIQUID GLASS BECOMES SHEETS OF GLASS
The First StepCutting
In the cutting department they have a large table they roll the glass onto then they use a large glass cutting tool machine to score the glass then they snap it in two this we will see done in the video.
Once cut to the right size it goes to either the silk screen department then to tempering or straight
to the tempering line.
HOW SHEETS OF GLASS BECOME AN INSULATED UNIT AT VIRACON
TemperingOnce in the tempering department it is loaded into the
oven and heated to approximately 1,150° F. Once at this temperature, it is then rapidly cooled, or quenched,
by air blown onto both sides of the glass surfaces simultaneously. This cooling process creates a state of
high compression at the glass surfaces while the central core of the glass is in a compensating tension.
The only physical characteristics of the glass that change are the improved strength and resistance to
thermal stress and shock.
THE SECOND STEP
CoatingsIn the coatings department the glass is loaded on a
conveyor belt and has either a solar reflective coating put on it or a low-e coating. These coatings
reduce inside glare and heat transfer. At Viracon they have over 350 combinations of color, tint, silk
screen, solar reflective and low-e coatings. After coatings the glass goes to staging where it can then go to the laminating or the insulating department.
THE THIRD STEP
This step is either laminating or insulating. If it is the laminating department they will be taking two sheets of glass and joining them together with a strong layer of vinyl, by running them through an oven and then an autoclave. These are sometimes shipped straight to a job site or another company
or the are joined with another piece of glass to make an insulated unit in the insulting
department.
THE FORTH STEP
The Insulating DepartmentHere we join two units of glass together using a metal air spacer made of either aluminum or
stainless steel, they come in plain silver color or black. The air spacers are filled with desiccant to absorb any moisture between the panes and are
joined to the glass with butyl. The unit is then sent down the line to have silicone fill the remaining
space. And then it is off to a box and the shipping department.
THE LAST STEP BEFORE SHIPPING
Once the finished unit is in the box it goes to the packing department then they close up the box
and send it to the shipping department. The shipping department then loads into a truck to go
to the construction sight, where turn it into a skyscraper.
THE LAST THING VIRACON DOES
VIRACON VIDEO
SOME COMPLETED SKYSCRAPERS
Utah Valley Convention CenterOklahoma City Federal Building
Question and Answer Time
THANK YOU FOR YOU TIME