GLass Failure Analysis Expert Discusses Wire Glass

Safety glass expert has examined numerous broken wire glass doors and windows. In the past wire glass has been mistaken to be safety glass; however, it is just as dangerous as standard annealed window glass. The wire is bonded between two pieces of semi-soft glass at high temperature. When this "sandwich" cools to room temperature, stresses are created that weaken the glass. The only advantage of wire glass is that the wire will hold the glass in place during a fire, and this will help reduce the spreading rate of a fire. Above left is a photograph of the remainder of a wire glass door through which a person had pushed his hand through when pounding on the door. The glass failure analysis determined that this fracture pattern is similar to an equivalent annealed glass failure. The wire did not prevent this glass failure. Above right is a photograph of a wire strand that pulled out of the glass at the time of the failure. One can see that its bond to the glass was very poor. a wire glass expert would attest to the fact that wire glass is not safety glass.