Şişecam - Encapsulated Glass

As it is one of the most significant parts of the automobiles, automotive glass is special in terms of safety and appearance. On processing side, Şişecam Automotive Glass’ most important feature is that it is produced via brief pressing or sag bending.

Şişecam Automotive Glass is made from the highest quality float glass, which have become the standard automotive glass, sidelining all other flat glass production techniques. In Turkey, float glass is produced at glass furnaces built by Şişecam technical personnel at Trakya Cam Sanayii AŞ.

High quality float glass raw materials with suitable composition, impurity and grain size are melted at approximately 1600° C. All grains are then removed from molten glass, which is then homogenized. Molten glass is then spread out onto a molten tin pool through a continuous process and shaped; after a tempering process called annealing, cut in desired sizes, and packaged.

At room temperature, glass displays complete elasticity, i.e., it does not exhibit flowing behavior prior to breakage. The endurance of glass is solely determined by the micro cracks created on the surface during usage or as a result of unintentional hits. Glass has no alternative in automobile windows because of its high chemical resistance, scratch resistance, optical excellence, malleability, and its surface that always maintains its shine.

Glass is heated before shaping, gaining fluidity in a continuous and rapid fashion depending on heat. High level of control needs to be exerted on shaping temperature and period because of the narrow tolerances regarding the final shape the glass will take. The highest quality of float glass is the automotive standard. Float glass that will be used in automotive has to meet the high quality requirements of the automotive industry in terms of optical quality, faults arising from melting, and thickness tolerances.

Although being a very hard material, glass can unfortunately be easily scratched by another piece of glass. Automotive glass, usually being large and heavy and being packed tightly lead to crashes among themselves during manual processes and cause damages on the surface.

Another kind of common damage is chipping which occurs when the side of a glass pane hits to a hard surface. According to its place and depth, chipping causes aesthetic errors or decrease in strength. Besides slight hits, any friction of glass with metal, ceramic and even plastic surfaces may cause scratches on glass. According to the location and depth of these scratches or scrapings, glass may be classified as damaged and wouldn’t be used.

In addition to surface damages, any stain that may occur during handling is another cause of customer dissatisfaction. Therefore glass shouldn’t contact with hard and dusty surfaces and shouldn’t be hit to other glass and objects during handling process which include being taken out of package, being carried, being prepared for assembly and being executed additional processes by the line.

From time to time, besides Şişecam Automotive Glass, for various reasons the customers need to do the packaging and transportation themselves. If the packaging is not done properly, reclamations such as scratches, scrapings, chippings and etc. might occur on the shipped glass because of logistic reasons. Glass packaging is important for the glass to be transported without any damage and breakage. Laminated glass should be placed inside the crates that are produced especially for glass transportation, without letting them touch each other or other hard surfaces and move from their place during rattling and stretching. The crate should be tied in appropriate tightness, loaded by a forklift to the truck gently and fixed to the truck. During loading, the crates should never be stepped on and glass should not be exposed to water, dust or mud.

Despite being a hard and durable material, glass is easily affected by water, dust, friction and impact. Therefore, the eligibility of the customers’ stocking field is very important. The glass that gets dusty at the stocking field might be scratched while cleaning. Glass that is not installed to the vehicle should not be kept in open air exposed to rain, sun and dust. Instead, it should be kept in a fresh aired storeroom, without being exposed to sudden temperature changes.

Şişecam Automotive Glass is installed to the vehicle via a seal or gluing process.

Glass is transported in metal, plastic or wooden crates that are specially designed and produced in accordance with the properties and form of the glass and the size of the subparts on them. The crates carrying door glass, backlite glass, quarter glass and windshield should be taken to the assembly area in their original packages and opened carefully.

The damage on glass is a situation frequently encountered at assembly area or during assembly. Glass should not be robbed against each other or to other surfaces, should not be wiped with dusty and oily cloth and unnecessary transfer should be avoided in the assembly area. If transfer is a must, the glass pane should not be removed from the middle of the package instead the panes in the front should be moved to another crate carefully.

The separation material (paper, cardboard, etc.) between the door glass should not be taken out altogether but one by one at the assembly area. There should not be a second stock place close to the assembly area because that increases the risk of scratches on the glass. It should be noted that tempered glass that is exposed to hits and overloading by the operators may get broken.

Windshields are sensitive to chipping since they are not strengthened. During assembly chipping might occur as a result of hitting the windshield to the hard surfaces. It should be noted that windshields should not be hit while bonding as it may cause cracking.

The faults on the glass panes have to be marked on the assembly line. These glass panes must be wrapped in their original package to avoid additional faults and should be transported to the quarantine area and must be kept there up until the analysis of the technical representative of the customer. Glass that does not have the approval sticker of the technical staff should not be sent to the plant.

Glass of Şişecam Automotive should be well cared even after the vehicle is presented to the final user.

It will elicit to keep their functions and aesthetical values for a long time not to clean the outer surface of the automotive glass with corrosive cleaning agents; let dust accrue in the seals of the front door; use corrosive cleaning agents that may detach the resistance lines on the heated rear windows and, to do the cleaning parallel to the resistance lines while avoiding glass from any kind of impact.

When replacement of a broken automotive glass is necessary, a spare automotive glass which has the high quality of an original equipment market and an E mark signifying its coherence to ECE R43 should be requested for the safety and comfort of the passengers

The fundamental property of automotive glass is the safety they offer to passengers during travel. In case of an accident, automotive glass absorbs the collision energy if passengers or objects from outside hit the glass, and prevents sharp shards from inflicting injury.

Şişecam Laminated Glass offers flexibility of middle layer between glass layers and perfect bonding, which dampens the impact of collision, holds the glass together and prevents injuries, and also holds back the passengers from being thrown out of the windshield.

One of the most significant features of automotive glazing is its optical performance. Optical distortion, double sighting, light transmission and color distinction capacity should be flawless at especially windshields and front side windows that are in the driver’s sight.

Besides these basic features the glass’ resistance to abrasion, endurance to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, high temperature and moisture, capacity to defrost and demist and positioning performance to the vehicle have to be provided at most level via accurate tests and process control tools.

These features of automotive safety glass that concern personal safety must be guaranteed by the glass producer according to ECE R43 international specification and European Union Regulation.

Modern automotive glazing is asked to supply the comfort of the passengers as well as their safety. With their new facilities, automotive glass enable auto designers to decrease the UV damage, create a bright interior, prevent the interior to be seen from the outside, block engine noise and structural vibration, provide antenna function for GPS, GSM, radio etc. and present the driving info to the driver at his sight level.

High motor power, comfort, low fuel consumption and low emission have begun to be the main purchasing criteria for customers as new automobiles are more speedy.

In parallel to these trends, automotive glazings decrease solar heat gain in the car, thus reduce the need for air conditioning and decrease the engine strain and the emission, assist to the structural power of the vehicle and help lowering the aerodynamic breaking and reduce the wind noise.

In addition to the functions mentioned above, automotive glazings gradually progress in meeting high expectations of customers by form and visual quality. For example, as automotive glass is extended by area and have more complex forms, the permitted size and bending tolerances and the number and size of acceptable surface and structure defects are decreased, too. Therefore, the accuracy performed all through the production process should continue afterwards and care should be taken to avoid glass scratches.