Bending glass is an art - bent glass is a work of art
free-form architecture and parametric design approaches increase the demand for curved glass. curved glass brings elegance and uniqueness to every room.
As the demands on building envelopes increase in terms of energy efficiency and design, bending glass is one of the most sophisticated processing methods that requires a lot of expertise and know-how. There are various processes for bending glass to shape glass according to the architectural design. Many factors such as bending radii, performance values, glass size and finishing influence the manufacturing process. sedak offers the complete range of curved glass: cold bending during lamination for maximum optical quality, thermal bending enables glass bending in series and gravity bending offers unlimited possibilities.
Curved glass can be further processed into safety and insulating glass and, just like flat glass, can undergo the complete sedak refining process.
sedak has perfected a tried-and-true method of producing bent glass based on cold bending over molds or during the lamination process. This process of cold bending involves bending the individual panes of a glass laminate prior to laminating and subsequently laminating them with the new curved geometry. The finished laminated pane retains its bent shape after autoclaving without the need for a supporting framework to help the glass retain its shape.
The unique advantage of cold bending of laminated glass is primarily its better optical quality due to fewer distortions and reflections. The minimum cold-bending radius is about 1,500 times the thickness of the glass, e.g. 10mm (3/8in): bending radius 15m (590in). Tighter radii might be possible. Lamination bent glass is available in cylindrical and spherical shape up to 3.6m (138in) x 20m (787in).
The bending of glass is an art. Combining knowhow wand modern bending furnaces we can easily handle the production of cylindrical, J-shaped, spherical tempered and heat-strengthened glass. Hot bending enables bending and tempering about one, two and three axes in one production process. This makes use of the method for large-volume projects with repetitive geometry, bending faster is not possible
Properties such as solar-control and thermal insulation, sound insulation or additional protection against breakage are possible with curved glass as well, likewise further treatments such as printing or adding colored foils.
Sound expertise and ingenious methods enable us to produce complex glass format with the help of gravity. Our production skills encompass all the steps in hot bending plus the processing of glass up to a maximum length of 11.5m.
We have three bending chambers in which half-shells and other forms, e.g. for cabins, wave shapes or free-forms, can be bent to create remarkable glass façades. Technical expertise in planning processes, mold-building and bending methods ensures the efficient, fast production of almost any curved glass forms that suit their applications perfectly: cylindrical, J-shaped, conical, spherical, toroidal, double-curvature and free-form shapes. When it comes to further treatments as well, e.g. chemical toughening, coating and printing, we can apply the whole range of production techniques to gravity-bent glass.
min. cold-bending radius | 1,500mm x thickness | |
6mm/ 1/4in | 9m radius | 354in radius |
8mm/ 5/16in | 12m radius | 472in radius |
10mm/ 3/8in | 15m radius | 590in radius |
Max. dimensions | 3,600mm x 18,000mm | |
Min. radius | 650mm | |
Bending angle | 105° | |
Bent form | cylindrical, J-shaped, 3D (concave, convex) |