Any property owner will have thought about how to prevent their windows from being broken by objects or people, but most people are unaware of another risk at play: spontaneous glass breakage.
What is spontaneous glass breakage?
Put simply, sometimes tempered glass spontaneously shatters.
Tempered glass also called Toughened Galss is recommended in public buildings as it’s 5x stronger and safer than standard Annealed or Float Glass and breaks into small glass pebbles rather than pointed shards.
However, under certain conditions tempered glass can suddenly explode a phenomenon known as spontaneous glass breakage.
Incidences of this are becoming more prevalent due to the increased use of tempered glass, and whilst the glass fragments from tempered glass are less sharp than annealed glass shards, they are still dangerous.
Spontaneous glass breakage results in a shower of these glass pebbles which can be especially harmful if falling from a height, for example from a window in a high-rise building.
Not to mention the impacts on businesses when spontaneous glass breakage occurs at a commercial property, where industry may need to be paused to allow for cleanup and replacement.
The concerns around spontaneous glass breakage have now grown large enough to be recognised by building code writers, with greater scrutiny being brought to safety measures which prevent glass fragments from impacting people and property.
Why does spontaneous glass breakage occur?
There are a number of things that can cause tempered glass to shatter without impact, but the two primary reasons it occurs are thermal shock and nickel sulphide inclusions.
Thermal shock
Glass panes are put under thermal shock, or thermal stress, when one part of the panel is a significantly different temperature to another.
If, for example, a glass panel becomes heated by the sun in one area whilst shaded in another, the pane will be both expanding and contracting across different areas which puts it under thermal stress, and if the difference between the expansion and contraction is great enough, it will cause the pane to shatter.
Nickel Sulphide inclusions
When glass is manufactured, small nickel sulphide stones can form within the glass panel.
After being formed, the glass panel cools and the nickel sulphide contracts with it, however over time these small fragments will expand back to their original size causing the glass to shatter.
Nickel sulphide can be present in annealed glass. However, this type of glass is less prone to spontaneous glass breakage, as the slower cooling process of annealed panes either stops the phase change of the nickel sulphide or stops the inclusions from later expanding.
Which windows are at risk of spontaneous glass breakage?
Tempered glass is most likely to spontaneously break in the first two to seven years after installation. The likelihood of spontaneous glass breakage decreases as time goes on.
This means that if your windows were installed in the last 7 years, they may be at risk of spontaneous glass breakage.
Additionally, if your building has suffered a spontaneous glass breakage in the past, it is more likely to have another instance again in the future. This is because these are often buildings with large expanses of glass made from the same ‘batch’ increasing the level of risk and making them more vulnerable.
How can glass retention film help?
Sureguard Window Films® are proud to supply and install Glass Retention Window Film, which prevents the damage caused by spontaneous glass breakage and reduces contamination to furniture carpets and equipment by holding the tempered glass pebbles in place.
The Window Film is attached to the glass on the side of the panel where the greatest risk of falling glass would occur, helping to protect building users and passers-by from hazardous situations caused by broken glass from both interior and exterior panels.
Should an external glass panel be damaged, the glass retention film will also prevent your building from becoming open to the elements, ensuring the wind and rain still can’t get in and neither can any unwanted visitors.
By holding the broken glass in place also helps to reduce downtime for your building. The urgency of clearing up the broken panel and replacing it with a new one is removed as the glass shards can’t cause a hazard, and business can continue as usual even whilst the glass is broken.
In some cases, it also removes the need for plywood to be installed over broken windows, which is often the only option for some buildings but is still not visually pleasing and blocks light from the building itself.
What makes glass retention film so good?
Glass retention films provide dependable protection, with a crystal-clear, scratch resistant and UV-shielding barrier to keep them optically clear whilst preventing damage to you and your property.
Tested to withstand up to 175 mph winds you can be sure that they won’t be damaged under severe weather conditions. We can provide to Window Film in a number of different specifications to suit the needs of your building, reducing downtime, contamination and injury.
We can supply and install glass retention films for internal and/or external protection, both of which come with a 10-year warranty. The film is applied to the side of the glass where there would be most risk of falling glass, which indicates whether your building would require the internal or external option.
We can offer guidance and experienced assistance to specify the right solution for your needs/glazing system, that could be;
Clear 100 Micron
Clear 175 Micron
Clear 200 Micron
Silver 20/200 Micron
Talk to Sureguard Window Films® about Llumar glass retention films today
As one of the longest-running Window Film companies in the UK, Sureguard Window Films® boast not only unparalleled industry experience but fantastic customer service.
If you’re looking to invest in glass retention films, there is no-one better to supply and install it than us – and if you’re not convinced, just take a look at some of our reviews.
There really is no guarantee against spontaneous glass breakage, so if you want to prepare your building for the fact that it could happen, the best way to ensure the safety of those in and near your building is to invest in a glass retention film.
We would love to talk to you about your project, so get in contact with Sureguard Window Films® today and get started talking about how we can protect you from the effects of spontaneous glass breakage.
