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Heat Soak Oven
Tempering process
increases the strength of glass many folds, offering a greater
resistance to breakage. However, the raw-material used in the
manufacture of tempered glass is not free form raw-material used in the
manufacture of tempered glass is not free from certain defects
including Nickel Sulfide inclusions, which put empowered glass at
potential risk of spontaneous breakage. The amount and size of these
inclusions vary from glass to glass. It has been a challenge for the
float glass manufacturers to produce a glass free from nickel sulphide
(NIS) inclusions.
Nis inclusions
change their structure and volume during the heating process of
tempering. This changed state is 'trappod' during the quenching
process. So at room temperature, the Nis inclusions tend to change back
to their original state, which having bigger volume, cause spontaneous
breakage. This changing back of state could happen in a few minutes to
a few years, making it unpredictable when the tempered glass may break.
At GSC, we realize
the implications of spontaneous Temperdglass fracture and the much
inconvenience caused. Therefore the concept of heat-soaking is defined
as the transfer of potential on-site breakage to breakage in the
factory under a controlled process of accelerating the inversion of the
nickel sulfide inclusions to their low temperature phase. In all
probability, the glasses theat have Nis inclusions, will break during
this heat soaking process.
While heat-soaking
does not guarantee that breakage will be completely eliminated in
installed tempered glass, it reduces the changes drastically. Studies
have been conducted worldwide indicating the reliability of heat soak
test to as high as 98.5%.
All fully tempered
as well as heat strengthened glasses for a project can be heat-soaked
in our heat-soak oven. We can heat soak a glass of maximum size 2400 mm
in height by 3660 mm in width.
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