Glass Products

Our extensive knowledge of glass substrates and our expertise in glass properties makes us uniquely qualified to provide the best glass for optimum performance.

Glass selection is the first step in each project. Since each substrate has distinctive qualities, we carefully review the glass products and their respective properties at the onset of each job. We evaluate characteristics such as thermal, optical, chemical, electrical and mechanical to recommend the ideal material for your application.

Abrisa stocks sheet sizes of a wide variety of glass substrates.
For current inventory, please call 805-525-4902.

TYPES OF GLASS

Soda-Lime Glass
This is the standard type of glass available. Most types of soda-lime glass can be heat strengthened, heat tempered, or chemically strengthened, and coatings applied.

  • Clear Soda-lime
  • Patterned: P62, Skytex, Crystal Prismatic, Solite, Industrex
  • Tinted

Borosilicate Glass
Borosilicate Glass all contain Boron as a component material. This type of glass is characterized by its resistance to heat, chemicals and specific coefficients of thermal expansion. The exact composition of each of these glasses differentiates them from one another and determines their best applications.

  • Schott Borofloat®
  • Schott Borofloat® IR
  • Schott AF45
  • Schott D263
  • Corning Eagle 2000
  • Corning Eagle XG
  • Corning 0211 Microsheet
  • Corning® Pyrex 7740

Schott Tubing & Rod
DURAN® is a special borosilicate glass of the first hydrolytic class. Its invention was one of Otto Schott’s great achievements. Laboratory and chemical plant technology would be unthinkable without DURAN® tubing, capillary and rod, which provide the basis for custom-made solutions to specific problems. Abrisa now offers the entire SCHOTT DURAN® tubing product line.

Glass-Ceramics
Glass-Ceramics are ceramics with glass-like properties. They are made in sheets like a ceramic and fired to make them transparent or semi-transparent. They have excellent thermal properties and are used in high heat applications. They also have a very low coefficient of thermal expansion which makes them stable under wide swings of temperature. Abrisa carries several types of glass-ceramics.

  • Schott Robax®
  • Schott Dark Robax®
  • Pyroceram®

Quartz / Fused Silica
Quartz and Fused Silica glasses are virtually identical, but have different methods of manufacture and slightly different material properties. They are used in applications where high ultraviolet light transmission, good thermal stability, or chemical inertness is required.

  • Corning Vycor
  • Corning 7980
  • GE 124

Specialty Glass
Each specialty glass has its own unique properties for distinctive uses.

  • Colored Glass and Dichroic Filters: Used to enhance, color, control lightwaves through glass
  • X-Ray Radiation Lead
  • Superwite B270: Very clear technical and optical glass with good performance for optical uses.
  • Laminated Glass: For safety and durability, two layers of annealed glass are bonded with an interlayer.
  • Patterned Glass

PROPERTIES OF GLASS
Different types of glass possess different qualities depending upon their chemical makeup and how they have been produced. Choosing the right type of glass for your application also means understanding the different physical properties each different type of glass possesses.

Thermal Properties
Glass is measured in a variety of factors which greatly affect your choice of glass. The Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) is the expansion measurement of glass as temperature is raised. This is an important factor to consider when placing the glass in a frame since glass expands much more than most metals and plastics, and may cause breakage upon cooling. The Thermal Conductivity is the ability to conduct heat through the glass or away from a heat/light source. This is important when considering glass as a view port exposed to high temperatures or for high infrared applications. Each type of glass has a Maximum Operating Temperature and Thermal Shock rating. These will guide the choice of glass depending on the amount of heat a glass will withstand, and how it cools after glass is subjected to a rapid change in temperature. Glass may be strengthened to change these thermal properties by Heat Strengthening, Heat Tempering, or Chemical Strengthening.

Optical Properties
There are several important measurements when determining the amount of light passing through glass. The Refractive Index determines how much a light wave is “bent” when entering or leaving the surface of the glass. This is important in producing certain optical devices or effects, such as lenses. The Dispersion measures the separation of light into its component colors, such as a prism dispersing white light into a color band or a rainbow effect. The Transmission measures the amount of light passing through the glass material, and its opposite, Reflectivity which measures the return of light from the surface. The Absorption property is the amount of light energy converted to heat within the glass that is not transmitted nor reflected. Tinted materials will absorb more light than clear materials.

Chemical Properties
All soda-lime type glasses and some borosilicate glasses contain sodium or alkali metal ions. Prolonged exposure to liquids or vapor, such as water, will cause the sodium/alkali ions to migrate to the surface of the glass, called Sodium or Alkali Leaching. This can cause cloudiness or haze on the surface of the glass. Porous coatings may also incur this phenomenon, causing a disruption of the bond between the coating and the glass surface. In high humidity or critical surface applications, this must be considered when specifying the material. Placing a “barrier” coating, such as silicon dioxide, on the glass will limit the amount of reaction. The Acid Resistance and Alkali Resistance measure the time it takes to remove a layer of specified thickness for each test.

Electrical Properties
When choosing a glass for electrical or electronic applications, there are several characteristics to consider. The Volume Resistivity is the resistance in ohms between opposite faces of a centimeter cube of the glass tested. This is important when glass is used as an electrical insulator. The Dielectric Constant of a glass is the ratio of the energy stored in a condenser with the glass as the dielectric, compared with the energy stored by the same condenser with air as the dielectric. This measures the ability of a glass to store electrical energy, and varies with the frequency of the voltage applied to the condenser. This is important when the glass is used as a substrate for electrical or electronic devices. Surface Resistivity is the ratio of the potential gradient parallel to the current along its surface, to the current per unit width of the surface. This method is used to measure the conductivity of coated glasses.

Mechanical Properties
The mechanical properties of a glass determine the amount of stress a glass can withstand. Stress is defined as the perpendicular force per unit area applied to an object, in a way that compresses (compressive stress) or stretches (tensile stress) the object. Strength is the ability of glass to withstand these stresses. Non-strengthened glass materials have relatively low tensile strength yet high compressive strength. Therefore, most glass breakage is due to tensile stress failure. Mechanical properties are measured in a variety of ways: Modulus of Rupture test measures the bending or flexural strength; Shear Modulus measures the amount of shearing or twisting forces a glass can withstand; Knoop Hardness Number (KHN) measures the hardness of glass; Density is the mass value per unit of volume; Specific Gravity is the ratio of the density of the glass to the density of water.