Glass processing: types and equipment

Technologies of processing of building materials for the most part develop in the direction of increasing capacity and productivity. These are important indicators of the working process for servicing solid materials, but for fragile products, other characteristics come to the fore. Almost any glass treatment should ensure accurate and accurate impact on the material, so as not to disrupt the structure of the future work surface.

Glass Cutting Techniques

In industry and industry, an automated method of such processing is used. Machines can be different - for example, traditionally used equipment with mechanical cutting heads. A rather promising direction is waterjet cutting of glass, which is characterized by high accuracy and the absence of negative side effects. The operator of such an installation can gently and very finely perform the processing, regardless of the complexity of the cutting line. The water jet, supplemented with particles of sandy abrasive, acts directly as a working element for the realization of cutting.

The hydroabrasive method was preceded by sandblasting. In essence, the principle of operation is the same, but air is used instead of a fluid medium. As for the quality of the result, the cutting of the glass by the sandblasting apparatus is inferior to the hydroabrasives. But this method turns out to be more economical because there is no need to add water resources.

Matting

The purpose of this treatment is to provide a glass surface with opacity. This task is achieved by mechanical action on the article by said sandblasting. Of course, in this case, very different indicators of power and power feed of the abrasive are used, but the principle of operation of the equipment remains the same. A jet of compressed air, diluted with sand elements, is fed to the surface of the target object. It is important to note that the sandblasting machine for glass processing is able to perform not only continuous matting, but also to create decorative patterns and patterns on the surface. That is, the device can also accept artistic design - the main thing is to set a special mode of operation and adjust the grain parameters of the abrasive.

Facetting

Often, the edge of the glass sheet is also treated. The bevelling technique also provides very precise and accurate processing, which involves several stages. First of all, rough grinding is performed with a cleaning of the pronounced surface defects. Next is a clean grinding and two final stages of polishing. As a rule, the processing of the edge of the glass is made with the purpose of rounding corners. However, depending on the capabilities of the machine for beveling, the user can obtain special angle parameters in accordance with individual requirements. The equipment for such purposes is mainly supplied from China and can handle almost all standard types of flat glass.

Tempering of glass

The hardening process is aimed at improving the strength characteristics of glass. As the basic equipment, an oven is used, which operates at temperatures of the order of 6000 ° C. When heated, the conveyor rollers move the workpieces, protecting the individual edges from overheating. The next stage of quenching involves a cooling effect. The temperature treatment of glass forms on its surface the forces of mechanical compression, which contributes to the increase in the strength of the material several times. As noted by technology, hardening also gives products increased thermal stability and tolerance to strong vibrational loads. It is worth noting that the direct machining of the glass should be subjected to the hardening process, since after it it will be impossible to do it.

Bending

Also popular processing technique, during which the wizard changes the shape of the product in accordance with certain requirements. A typical operation of this kind, for example, is the creation of bends. Technologically, the process involves performing a procedure under high-temperature action, which softens the structure of the material. For subsequent molding, a special matrix is used, in which the glass is processed by bending. Depending on the thickness of the product and the configuration of the bend, the correction process can take from 2 to 20 hours. At the end of the operation, as in quenching, airflow cooling is performed. By the way, equipment for hardening and bending is often combined on the same production line. Together with the heat treatment, the user can perform the shaping of flat and curved glass products.

Chemical etching

The purpose of using this technique is also to ensure the glass surface is dull. Only, unlike the previous method, it is not a sandblasting tool, but a chemical effect. On special forms, glass and acid vapors are contacted, which form insoluble salts as a result. I must say that the types of glass processing by etching are quite diverse precisely because of the use of a wide group of chemical reagents. In this case, not only directly active elements are noted, but also substances that cover areas not intended for processing. This is especially true for artwork operations. Another important difference between chemical treatment and sandblasting is the quenching after quenching with acid media.

Ultraviolet gluing

The technology of gluing and soldering comes from the need to solve the widespread problem of the electronics industry. The fact is that the combination of metal and glass in a single detail did not allow to provide sufficient gas-tight resistance. The solution to the problem was the emergence of new methods that allow for the implementation of a better quality spike. One of the most popular methods is gluing by means of special compounds. In addition to applying an adhesive, it is also assumed that the glass is treated with ultraviolet radiation. During polymerization, the compound acquires sufficient strength and a wide range of other protective properties, not to mention the tightness of the ligament.

Conclusion

Methods of processing glass products are mainly characterized by the nature of the impact. The traditional and most common way to change the characteristics of such materials is mechanics. Cutting heads on machines and sandblasting machines act mechanically, allowing you to get both a quality cut and an artistic pattern on the surface. Also used and equipment for glass processing, which provides for the provision of thermal impact. As a result, blanks acquire higher technical and operational qualities. This applies to hardening technologies, and to chemical etching. There are also new approaches to the processing of brittle materials. Among them, we can distinguish the hydroabrasive technique of cutting and gluing under the influence of ultraviolet rays.