AESTHETICS, functionality, resistance and efficiency for modern glass

There is not a secret that the glass has a decisive role in shaping the architectural trends of the future, this material being preferred by designers in their quest to harness the power and flexibility of this material. Applications are more diverse than ever, no one having a wince when sees glass with structural functions – a material considered until recently a fragile solution and rather perceived as an aesthetic element, whose main function is to provide natural lighting. It seems that all prejudices have been overcome and the industry is moving in a direction that would not even have been suspected only a few decades ago. Innovations are multiple, processing went beyond the boundaries of imagination, and the results are spectacular. It is hard to guess where it will arrive in a few years, but the current stage of the glass industry justifies the presumption that the growth rate will accelerate. A product increasingly asked lately is represented by the printed decorative glass. This sector is currently under particular pressure from customers both in terms of quality and size. Most often such requests are justified by the material used in some large-scale projects, which is an essential requirement to leave a remarkable mark in the history of architecture. The challenge is therefore greater, and the engineers must identify the necessary balance between endurance, design and functionality. When it comes to printing of glass sheets measuring 8,000 mm x 13,000 mm in a single pass through the machinery, it is obvious that things are quite complicated and requires an ingenious solution. For the construction of a machine able to work on such a scale, it is necessary to redesign of the various components of the existing equipment, such as, the chassis, which, should have a length of more than 20 meters. And this is just one facet of the problem, a number of other vital elements requiring a different design to successfully cope with the additional gravitational forces.