The first thing people think of when they think of glass is usually a window or a car windshield. While those are certainly the dominant applications for glass globally, glass is finding increasing use as an architectural design element on the interior of commercial and residential buildings.
Glass can be used as a partial partition, to enclose a full office or conference space, in glass elevators, or as a shower enclosure. These glass panels can contain unique graphics due to the prominence of large format printing processes and can also be etched or coated to look like stone or other surfaces.
As you might expect, adhesives and sealants play a large role in the installation of glass panels and yes, “there’s a tape for that”!
These tapes are designed with a transparent acrylic core in thicknesses from 20 mils to 118 mils. They are typically applied along the edge of the glass panel and provide an easy, clean way to unitize the panels and provide nearly invisible sight lines.
These tape systems can be applied in a shop environment or in the field and the installation steps are not complicated.
First the glass edges needs to be cleaned. A simple 50:50 blend of water and isopropyl alcohol will remove any contamination and provide a ready to bond surface. Primer containing silane coupling agents can be used to enhance bond strength of needed.
Next the slit roll of tape is applied with a hand held guide along the edge of the glass panel and a small rubber covered roller is used to secure the exposed adhesive to the edge.
Next, a small piece of the release liner is “pig-tailed” to allow it to be removed when the panels are ultimately brought into contact. The panels can then be set into the bottom channel and brought into near contact. A double vacuum pad at the top and bottom of the partition can be applied to bring the panels into contact with one another.
That’s it! Once the panels are brought into contact, the tape will achieve 50-60% of it’s bond strength and will reach 80% within an hour.
Want to learn more about transparent acrylic glass to glass bonding tapes? Contact Tom Brown, Inc. for more details.
