Getting to know about car windshields
Not all glass is made equally. Take the glass that covers the windows in most homes as an example. They will shatter into sharp pieces when smashed. These sharp pieces can easily cause bodily harm to anyone within a certain distance of the smashed window. On the other hand, do you know that the glass used in cars (also known as auto glass) is shatter-proof? This means that if it breaks, it won’t break into sharp pieces. Every wonder how this all works?
Different types of glass are used throughout a car. Each type of glass serves a different purpose. For example, the glass on the windshield is primarily used to protect from wind and debris. On the other hand, the vent glass on the side of a car is sometimes just there for cosmetic purposes. However, vent glass makes it possible for the glass on the rear door to roll down more than it would if there was no vent glass. Vent glass may also help to keep the driver and passenger seats comfortable by reducing the sunlight from heating up the inside of the car.
Auto glasses are made from sand, limestone, and sodium carbonate. As such, it is typically designed to be 100% recyclable, sustainable, and non-toxic which is important in conserving the environment. Besides that, auto glasses are explicitly designed to absorb heavy impact during accidents and prevent the passengers from getting injured. Auto glasses are also responsible for 60% of the car’s structural integrity in rollover accidents, whereas it absorbs 45% of the accident impact during a head-on collision. The absence of a windshield can cause the car to flatten out, thereby making it susceptible to yielding even during minor accidents.
Front Windshield Auto Glass
The most important glass on any vehicle is the windshield glass. The main purpose of the windshield in a car is to shield the driver and passengers from wind, dust, dirt, insects, and other elements while driving or traveling in a car. Some windshield glass has UV coating to protect from the sun’s rays as well. However, this may not be necessary due to the type of materials used to create windshield glass that are UV-resistant, which can already fend off some UV-rays.
On top of that, windshields can provide a significant amount of support for a car’s roof. Airbags on the passenger side of the car tend to bounce off the windshield before they expand as well. A point to note is that the front windshield is that tinting may help to improve the driver’s visibility on sunny days.
Back Windshield Auto Glass
Rear windshields are made from tempered glass. While the rear windshields in the majority of cars are bonded to the frame and cannot be moved, other models have sliding planes or ones that are able to open upward.
The horizontal lines on the rear windshield of a car are used to send currents of electricity to heat the rear windshield pane. This helps to clear our water droplets faster so that drivers can see through that window properly on rainy days.