Laminated glass is normally used when there is a possibility of human impact or where the glass could fall if shattered. Skylight glazing and automobile windshields typically use laminated glass. In geographical areas requiring hurricane-resistant construction, laminated glass is often used in exterior storefronts, curtain walls and windows. The PVB interlayer also gives the glass a much higher sound insulation rating, due to the damping effect, and also blocks 99% of incoming UV radiation.
A typical laminated makeup would be 2.5 mm glass / 0.38 mm interlayer / 2.5 mm glass. This gives a final product that would be referred to as 5.38 laminated glass.
Multiple laminates and thicker glass increases the strength. Bullet-resistant glass is usually constructed using polycarbonate, thermoplastic, and layers of laminated glass. A similar glass is often used in airliners on the front windows, often three sheets of 6 mm toughened glass with thick PVB between them.
Toughened glass is processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering, by design, creates balanced internal stresses which causes the glass sheet, when broken, to crumble into small granular chunks of similar size and shape instead of splintering into random, jagged shards. The granular chunks are less likely to cause injury.
Laminated glass is a misnomer. It is usually layers of toughened glass and plastic. Laminated glass holds together when shattered because, in the event of breaking, it is held in place by an interlayer, typically of polyvinyl butyral (PVB), between its two or more layers of glass which crumble into small pieces. The interlayer keeps the layers of glass bonded even when broken, and its toughening prevents the glass from breaking up into large sharp pieces. This produces a characteristic "spider web" cracking pattern when the impact is not enough to completely pierce the glass.
In 2014, researchers used lasers to create an analogue of nacre by engraving networks of wavy 3D "micro-cracks" in glass microscope slides. When the slides were subjected to an impact, the micro-cracks absorbed and dispersed the energy, keeping the glass from shattering. Altogether, treated glass was reportedly 200 times tougher than untreated glass.
