Energy Efficient Lamination of Flat Glass via Radio Frequency Pressing

MS&T 2007 Presentation

Abstract

Materials Science and Technology Conference
Cincinnati, OH
Authors: Shawn Allan, Morgana Fall, Holly Shulman
Presenter: Shawn Allan

A scalable radio-frequency process was developed for producing laminated flat glass, using significantly less energy than required for the state of the art autoclave process. RF energy was applied to selectively heat and melt vinyls (e.g. polyvinyl butyral - PVB, and ethylene vinyl acetate - EVA) via dielectric heating to the point of flow, without heating the glass or surroundings. Uniaxial pressure was simultaneously applied. Using this technique, sheets of laminated flat glass were produced with uniform adhesion and optical clarity in under 30 seconds. Examples of various glass and vinyl combinations were tested for the robustness of the process. Production energy savings from lamination with simultaneous pressure and RF energy resulted in approximately 90 % energy savings over the current state of the art autoclave process. This technology may significantly reduce the energy and environmental impact of laminated glass production for a wide range of flat glass applications.