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Solutions for bonding and gluing glass
Find the right glass adhesive for your challenge.
Bonding glass for professionals
Glass is an important and often indispensable material for modern designers.
Its transparency and diverse design possibilities make it an important material for architects and interior designers, but glass only really comes into its own with the right joining technology. With the right adhesive materials, glass elements, windows or glass facades can be joined quickly, securely and permanently.
Adhesive joints are often used when different materials need to be joined together, for example glass with plastics, glass with metals etc. Many adhesives are also extremely elastic.
This means they can compensate for different coefficients of thermal expansion of bonded materials and tolerate vibrations and dynamic forces very well. No other bond offers the elasticity that a glass-to-metal bond, for example, requires to compensate for the differences in linear expansion of the two materials.
Application examples for contemporary glass bonds
- Glass partition wall systems
- Glass railing infills in a box profile
- Bonding of window glass in frames
- Windshields, e.g. not only waterproof but also elastically bonded to dampen vibrations
Bonding in glass construction
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as an "all-purpose adhesive".
Especially in structural glass construction, it's important to align the requirements for an adhesive system with the intended use.
For example, whether the adhesive joint is to be used for primary load transmission or to compensate for differences in deformation. If the joint is mainly to transfer loads over small areas, an adhesive with high strength and stiffness is required.
If the joint has a statically subordinate role and serves, for example, as an elastic bearing, a high elasticity of the adhesive is again advantageous. In particular, the compensation of different temperature expansions of different joining partners is an area of application for elastic adhesive systems such as SG silicones.
Silicone adhesive: Gluing glass to glass without primer
Silicone-based adhesive.
Aquarium adhesives, for example, fall into this category because most silicone adhesives are waterproof (as are some UV adhesives). Silicone-based adhesives require at least several hours to dry and are largely unaffected by weather conditions.
Adhesive tape in window construction
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Architects and builders want ever thinner frame and window profiles and their easy integration into aesthetically and elegantly looking façades.
Adhesive tapes are regarded as a fast, simple and proven alternative to mechanical fixings or silicone adhesives. For example, the VHB acrylic foam adhesive tape from 3M - a double-sided adhesive tape made of a closed-cell high-performance acrylate adhesive with high viscoelasticity and enormous bond strength - permanently and securely bonds glass to the substructure made of metal, plastic or wood.
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Why glue glass elements with adhesive tape?
- Small frame widths → more transparency
- Greater design freedom
- Simplified production processes (prefabricated elements are immediately ready for transport and installation)
- Bonding is faster and more efficient than with conventional joining methods: no more awkward handling of silicone adhesives for glass, no process times to be observed (e.g. flash-off times of the primer, pot-life and curing time of the adhesive), no re-blocking.
- Large glass weights possible due to linearly distributed load introduction into the glass (i.e. reduction of the risk of glass breakage due to stress peaks).
- Better Uf values by dispensing with stiffening of the sash frame
- Better performance in terms of burglar resistance
However, it should also be noted that the strengths achievable with adhesive tapes are generally lower than those achievable with liquid adhesives:
Adhesive type Strength Elongation at break Liquid adhesive 1 - 3 MPa > 200 % Adhesive tape ~ 0.5 MPa ~ 300 %
Silicone adhesive is also used in façade construction: with the latest developments, in which Holzforschung Austria (HFA) and other research institutes are involved, façades made of bonded wood-glass composite elements (HGV) could be realised.
For the production of these elements, which are up to 3.60 m in size, circumferential wooden coupling strips were glued to glass panes in the (insulating glass) factory using a special silicone. The prefabricated façade elements then only have to be screwed together on site. The high-performance silicone ensures gentle load application and compensates for tensions.
How can we help?
Let's work together! 3M products are constantly evolving to better meet customer needs. If you need help finding the right product for your project or have other questions about 3M solutions: Call Us 0870 608 0050
Dream. Design. Deliver.
Learn more about how applying 3M™ VHB™ Tape right, consistently and fast can help you get strong, reliable bonds.
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Window bonding with 3M™ VHB™ Tape
When designing windows, you need to ensure that your products don’t just look great but perform to the highest possible standards without risk of deterioration. Efficient, productive applications need adhesives that provide high durability in a cost-effective, easy-to-use manner.
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