An Introduction to Auto Glass

On the one hand, you are very familiar with your auto glass, and most of us will see it every day. It looks pretty straight forward right? It's just glass in your car right? Well actually it's a little more complicated than that and there is a lot more to auto glass than meets the eye.

This is particularly true of your windshield. You might think to look at that your windshield is just like any glass, and is made of just a single pane, however in thinking so you would be mistaken. A windshield in fact is actually made up from not one, but two identical sheets of glass. These sheets of glass are laid on top of one another and as they are identical and transparent they then look like one thicker piece. But what's the purpose of this you ask? Well there is also another layer involved – a layer of laminated plastic – and this runs between the two sheets of glass.

The purpose of this laminated plastic is to hold the glass in place. This is sticky meaning that the glass is stuck to it and that means that it is held together and can hold its shape even when broken. In other words, if someone were to break the glass in an accident – it wouldn't all come shattering forward into the car. Rather it would break where it was and still be held in place with just a few lines across it – and this is much safer for the passengers and driver.

At the same time the fact that there are two sheets of glass means that if the top layer is chipped, this will not come all the way through into the car. This means fewer projectiles from the road such as stones coming through the glass to hit you, and it means that you don't need to completely replace your windshield when there are minor repairs to be made. The air in between the two sheets of glass also makes the glass a better insulator and means you essentially get double glazing in your car. So there are plenty of reasons for this design.

Windshields can also have more to their design and this means that they can in some cases be heated via a wire mesh that runs through the middle of them, or that they can block out the UV rays of the sun. Some are one way – there are a wealth of options available.

The rest of your auto glass also serves more purposes than you might think. For instance it not only allows you to see out of your car, but it also contributes to the structural integrity of the vehicle. Your auto glass is bonded to your car by a powerful adhesive that works at an atomic level meaning that if the car were to flip over – the glass would help to hold the roof up and prevent it from crushing you.

Likewise it also helps to maintain the environment in your car and this allows you to use such things as heating and air conditioning while preventing the outside air from getting in.

There is more to Tucson auto glass than you might initially expect. For Tucson windshield repair and replacement visit the links.