Date: 9 October 2009
The 8m x 5m oven, which has cost £150,000 to build, will be installed in Glass UK’s Buckinghamshire headquarters and will be commissioned for operation from 1 October. This will enable Glass UK to laminate the largest EVA stock sheets in the UK – jumbo sized sections of up to 6,000mm x 3,200mm.
EVA resin technology is plastic-based, rather than polymer-based, which makes it impervious to water ingress. The previously dominant PVB (Poly Vinyl Butyl) resin technology is hydroscopic, which means that it is susceptible to water ingress and unreliable for use in external applications.
Therefore, EVA lamination is far more durable than PVB technology, and is also more easily stored – PVB needs to be maintained in a temperature controlled, humidity regulated environment.
EVA resin lamination presents the opportunity to laminate a PET layer between two sheets of EVA. This can be digitally printed to a very high resolution. Through Pujol, Glass UK also has access to more than 2,500 different types of fabric and other materials that have been tested to prove compatibility with Pujol’s EVA laminating system.
Glass UK has also negotiated sole UK rights to Spanish company Pujol’s Evalam technology. This includes Evalam polyvision, which is a switchable glass technology, Evalam polymagic, which allows LED film light sources to be laminated into the glass, and Evalam polyflush, which is a holographic laminate that changes colour according to the angle of the user’s vision and the sun’s position. Glass UK is also developing a laminated heated glass system to take full advantage of the Pujol process.
“EVA resin technology is absolutely the future of glass lamination,” says Glass UK director Warren Evans. “Aside from its innate high tensile strength it provides excellent UV protection and acoustic properties, high wind resistance and is completely waterproof. This durability and the creative opportunities it provides make it absolutely ideal for external facades, doors and windows, as well as aggressive internal environments such as swimming pool enclosures, wetrooms and steamrooms.” Visit www.glass-uk.com and www.hornospujol.com.
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