What’s curved glass?
Different from normal flat glass,curved glass has special shape.After heating the pre-processed float glass (cutting and grinding to the required size) to the softening temperature, and then relying on glass weight or external force to make the glass into a non-planar shape that matches the mold in various specific molds. annealing process is followed to form glass final strength.
Based on the production methods and features,curved glass can be classified into hot bending glass,and heat treated curved glass.
Curved glass Production methods:
Hot bending glass,is produced with hot bending machine,glass will be heated to softening point,form the required shape with mould and cooling down in room temperature.
glass hot bending machine
As there’s no fasting cooling down process,hot bending glass strength is same as float glass,meanwhile the glass can be made into any shape based on the different mould,It’s widely used in interior glass tables,glass shelves,glass cabinets .
hot bending glass products-MORN
Different from hot bending glass tempered curved glass heating and cooling process is finished with tempering furnace.The fast heating and fast cooling process will form compressive stress on glass surface.
When the glass is subject to external force,the surface stress is been counteract first to improve the bearing capability and enhance the glass strength.
Same as flat tempered glass ,curved tempered glass also has high strength and will break into small particles once broken and avoid potential injury to people.
With the development of tempering technology,now tempered curved glass can be divided into:cylindrical bend tempering,Asymmetrical bend tempering,hyperbolic bending glass,double curved glass,and even multi-curved tempered glass.
tempered curved glass application
Curved glass processed with tempering furnace can be heat strengthened,toughened ,and heat soaked,the only difference between flat tempered glass is just the shape.
Tempered curved glass can be divided into longitudinal bending and lateral bending.
Lateral bending,the glass max height is the tempering furnace width,finished glass are used for shower doors,house appliance etc where has high appearance requirement.
Curved tempered glass has below features:
Various glass substrates option:Clear,Low iron,body tinted glass,acid etched,low-E coated glass.
Silk screen,digitally printing process can be applied on glass surface to add extra design element.
Curved glass can further been processed into laminated curved glassto offer extra acoustic ,UV protection,and safety function.
Curved glass can further been processed into insulated curved glasspanels to offer extra thermal insulation performance.
curved insulated glass for export
Curved glass gives architects and designers freedom to create aesthetically pleasing curved glazed facades where straightness, corners and edges can be enhanced with soft curves. These curves can be in the form of simple cylindrical shapes to the more complex 3D free form shapes.
The newest project that shows the excellent visual effect on glass facade is Predry Manhattan west hotel,The wavy glass curtain wall is now fully installed on the northern and southern elevations of the 281-foot-tall Pendry Manhattan West Hotel. The glass facade use 4500sqm curved insulated glass,1700pieces with minimum 1450mm radius.
Below pictures from Michael Yound shows us how awesome the perfect combination of curved glass and glass building.
curved glass application applied on predry hotel-1
curved glass application applied on predry hotel-1 (2)
Click here to learn full version of the project case study:Page 76-84.
Beside glass facade,curved glass can also been applied in below categories:
Curved glass showers
Curved glass staircases& handrails
Curved storefronts & revolving doors
Curved glass office partitions.
Curved glass skylights &glass greenhouse
curved glass bathroom and glass railing
curved glass revolving door and elevators
curved glass skylight and glass conservatory
Morn work with China premium curved glass manufacturers and supply all kinds of tempered curved glass.
But every project is different,it’s suggested to consult the glass requirement,arc length,height,radius,shapes during your design process to ensure that every piece curved glass installed on your project is perfect.
Morn curved glass production capability
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