Fire rated glass, as evident from the name itself, is a safety glass, used for protection in case of fires, extreme heat, and flames. It does not extinguish fires but helps in compartmentation and restrict fire damage by preventing it from spreading to different parts of a building.
What is a fire-rated glass made of?
A fire rated glass is made of multiple layers of glass separated by heat resistance sub-layers. They are of two types, fire-protective rated glass and fire-resistive rated glass.
A fire-protective rated glass prevents spreading of fire but does not prevent heat transfer. This means people and objects present on the other side of the glass will experience heat waves from the fire. On the other hand, fire-resistive rated glass prevents both spreading of fire as well as heat radiation.
Different types of fire-rated glass
- Polished Wired Glass: – Polished wired glass is an integrated glass with wired mesh grid inside it. In case of an outbreak of fire, the wire mesh holds on to the glass to prevent its breakage.
- Ceramic Glass: – Ceramic glass has a high level of heat resistivity and is conventionally used for the manufacture of cooking glass tops, fireplace doors, and safety glazing.
Its process of manufacture, where it goes through high heat, causes crystallization of glass. This crystallization gives it the ability to become strong and thermally stable.
- Specially Tempered Glass: – Tempered glass is a thermally stable glass, built by controlled thermal and chemical treatments, rendering it stronger than normal glass.
While tempered glass gives a fire rating of 20 minutes, specially tempered glass is known to give a much better performance when it comes to fire rating.
The advantage of using fire-rated glass
- An ideal alternative to traditional fire resisting technologies such as standard steel or wooden fire doors.
- Provides transparency apart from safety; ideal for an office environment.
- Being transparent, it becomes easy to locate the main area of fire and smoke.
- Fire-rated glass screen door provides better integrity and insulation than silicone-jointed systems. It provides a maximum performance time of 120 minutes compared to the silicone-jointed systems which provide a maximum performance time of 60 minutes.
Integrity is the maximum time the fire and smoke would be contained in a certain area, preventing its spread whereas insulation is how long the people in the building will be protected from the radiating heat to ensure their safe and quick evacuation.
The Bear Glass advantage
We here at bear glass provide you the best quality fire-rated glass for your ultimate safety. Being among the best fire rated glass manufacturers in town; we ensure customer satisfaction and a great overall quality of the products. Our fire-rated glass can be installed in a shop storefront, door, and room dividers, office dividers and can also be used as an alternative to traditional window glass, kitchen doors, shop cabinets, and outside walls. We also do custom fire rated glass installation, cutting and fabrication.
To know more, please contact us.
Call: +1-718-832-3604
Email: Sales@BearGlass.com
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