Stemalite - what is it? Unlike ordinary glass

Thanks to the absolute smoothness and luster of the glass elements give any product a special charm. However, this material has a significant drawback - low strength and fragility. Therefore, in interiors, an alternative option is increasingly being used - stemalite. What is it and how does it differ from ordinary glass?

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Stemalit is a high-strength enameled glass, one of the sides of which is covered with a layer of fusible ceramic paint. In the production process, it is subjected to additional heat treatment (firing), so that the enamel is baked on the surface and becomes resistant to environmental influences.

Production technology

Tempered glass stemalite is made only in industrial conditions, using specialized equipment:

• strap conveyor;
• chambers for applying enamel suspension to the surface;
• drying apparatus;
• kilns for firing painted sheets.

As raw materials, ordinary glass is used (vertical alignment, rolled raw, patterned or polished). The technological process for the production of stemalite includes several main stages:

1. Cutting. Transparent sheets of ordinary glass are placed on a mechanical table equipped with adjustable cutting heads and cut into fragments of the required size. Edges of sheets are necessarily treated with grinding wheels - this reduces the risk of damage to the material during heat treatment.
2. Cleaning up. Before applying enamel, it is important to properly prepare the glass surface. Sheets are placed in a washer-dryer, where they are sprayed on both sides with warm water and degreasing agents, and then treated with soft brushes.
3. Coating. First of all, an enamel suspension is prepared for staining stemalite. What it is? A thinner is added to the dry powder paint or paste (it can be ordinary water or special organic solvents). Then the liquid mixture enters the spraying machine, which, with the help of a nozzle system, uniformly sprays the enamel on the glass.
4. Furnace hardening. Immediately after this, the sheets are removed from the conveyor and sent to the furnace, where they are heated to 650–700 ° . The temperature level depends on the refractoriness of a particular type of enamel.
5. Cold air treatment. The heated glass is fixed on the blowing grate and installed in front of the fan in an upright position, due to which the sheets are cooled evenly.

Sometimes, instead of the traditional method of applying enamel, silk-screen printing (painting through a grid) is used. In this case, the sheets of glass are placed in a special frame, which is a kind of "template", covering those areas that should not get paint.

Technical capabilities

Modern equipment allows the production of many types of enameled glass with various characteristics:

• sheet sizes - from 200x250 to 1260x3000 mm;
• stemalite thickness - 3–25 mm;
• enamel application - continuous or rarefied layer;
• color - more than 120 shades according to the RAL table.

The light transmittance of a material is determined by the amount of paint: the thinner the layer, the higher the transparency. To give a sheet of stemalite texture, the desired pattern is applied to a fresh, not yet frozen enamel.

Advantages and differences from ordinary glass

What is stemalitis? This is a building material that combines the decorative properties of ordinary glass, but at the same time has a much higher strength and resistance to environmental influences.

1. The sheet is able to withstand temperatures up to 700 ° C. The density of the sheet reaches 2500 kg / m ³ and the bending strength is about 25 kgf / mm ² , which is 5 times higher than that of plain glass.
2. The material is resistant to acid and alkaline environments, normally tolerates high humidity and steam.
3. Thanks to durable enamel, the surface of the stemalite is almost impossible to damage or scratch.

At the same time, tempered glass is very durable and practically does not require maintenance. An important point is that the enamel coating does not contain toxic components and fully complies with environmental standards.

Fields of application

Due to its attractive appearance and excellent performance, stained glass is widely used in construction and interior design.

1. Front glazing. The use of double-glazed windows with stemalite makes it possible to aesthetically hide the load-bearing structural elements and realize non-standard architectural ideas.
2. Wall covering. Knowing what it is - stemalite, you understand: it is not surprising that this material is so popular in the decoration of industrial and commercial premises. Toughened glass cladding is easily cleaned of any contaminants, it is not afraid of disinfecting treatment.
3. Door production. Compared with ordinary glass inserts, a double-glazed window with stemalite looks much more spectacular, and the probability that someone accidentally breaks it is almost zero.
4. Creation of office and room partitions. A variety of shades and textures allows you to choose the best option for any interior.
5. Production of advertising and trade equipment (display cases, shelving, etc.).
6. Arrangement of glass floors, stairs and other decorative elements.
7. Furniture manufacture.

The only significant drawback of stemalite is its high cost. In many ways, it depends on the technical characteristics of a particular sheet, but the price of 1 m ² rarely drops below 2000–2500 rubles.

Operational Features

Despite the high strength of stemalite, double-glazed windows of this material require compliance with certain rules. So, in order not to damage the enamel, it is not recommended to use abrasive cleaners, hard metal brushes and rough paper to wash stained glass. Instead, it is advisable to use soft, wet, short-nap wipes.

Please note that finished sheets of stemalite cannot be drilled and cut. Any technological holes, edges and chamfers are cut directly during production.