Interlayers for Laminated Glass

Glass is often perceived as fragile, brittle and transparent. It protects against natural elements such as rain and wind. However, in the event of an accidental contact with glass (direct impact, slip, fall, crowd movement...), natural or industrial disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, factory explosion...) or worse, criminal acts (terrorist bombing, armed robbery, burglary, vandalism...), ordinary glass is of little use and even increases the risk of injury and death.

The concept of "unbreakable", i.e. safety glass, was born in the late 1800s and early 1900s, leading to the manufacture of tempered glass (Alfred de la Bastie-1874, Victor de Lyunes-1875) and laminated glass (Charles Wade-1899, Benedictus-1903 and Wood-1905). Interlayers for laminated glass were first developed to meet the needs of the automotive industry (windshield manufacture), before finding other commercial outlets in the building market and more recently in the photovoltaic and structural glass markets.

In this article, we will deal only with the interlayers used to manufacture laminated glass and laminated safety glass for the building market: PVB (polyvinyl butyral), EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate), Ionoplast, TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) and CIP (casting resins).