ION Glass : What are the benefits of heat soak testing for glass?
Glass experts Ion: what are the benefits of heat soak testing for glass?
Ion Glass Consultancy
Heat-soak testing reduces the risk of nickel-sulphide (NiS) inclusion failure by 95%. NiS inclusions, resulting from nickel contaminants reacting with sulphur are a known issue for toughened glass. During thermal toughening, these inclusions undergo a phase change and become fixed within the glass. Over time, they grow and can cause spontaneous failure due to increased stress.
Heat-soak testing heats the glass to around 290°C for a sufficient time to fracture panes that might otherwise fail after installation, minimizing the risk. Tested glass typically displays a kitemark indicating it meets European Standard EN14179.
Is heat-soak testing worth the extra cost?
Ion Glass specify heat-soak testing for all structural glass installations, especially overhead canopies and glass rooflights; glass screens; frameless or free-standing balustrading and bolt fixed glass structures. The slight increase in cost of this procedure is well worth it for the peace of mind that comes from reducing the risk of spontaneous glass failure to less than 5% and should be considered essential for any glass installation where breakage could result in injury.
Nickel-sulphide inclusion failure can be a costly repair: the only possible solution is to completely remove and replace the failed glass panel, however difficult or expensive it might be to carry out this process.
What does nickel-inclusion failure look like?
Spontaneous glass failure as a result of nickel-sulphide inclusion creates a clear break pattern to the glass, with a distinctive double-D at the source of the break.
The failure is spontaneous, with the shattering of the glass spreading rapidly over the entire pane without any external impact damage
Ion Glass Consultancy Services
For insurance purposes it is often necessary to make a visual inspection of a shattered glass installation to establish whether the damage has been caused by impact, misuse, spontaneous nickel-inclusion failure or any other possible incident.
Ion Glass offer a consultancy service that includes a visit to the premises and the preparation of an independent report appropriate for submission to Insurance Companies or any other interested parties.
For more information on our solutions call us on 0345 658 9988, send us an email via info@ionglass.co.uk or click on the enquiry form on our website.