Pilkington Optilam™

Overview

Pilkington Optilam™ is the brand name for our laminated glass range an alternative solution for impact safety. The glass will break following impact but will remain in place thus preventing injury.

Pilkington Optilam™ is produced by combining two or more sheets of glass with one or more plastic interlayers. Two types of interlayer are used, which have differing properties. The most common is a polyvinylbutyral (PVB) interlayer, which is applied with heat and pressure in factory controlled conditions.

Laminated glass can also be produced by a cast-in-place (CIP) process, in which a resin is poured between two panes of glass held apart by a spacer at the edges. The resin is subsequently cured and the product is known as Pilkington Laminated Glass.

The performance of Pilkington Optilam™ and Pilkington Laminated Glass can be varied by changing the number and thickness of each of the panes of glass, and the PVB or CIP interlayers. This provides the specifier with a wide choice of products depending on application, whether it be for safety or security, noise control, solar control, UV screening, blast resistance or privacy and decoration. See also Pilkington Optilam™ I and Pilkington Optilam™ Phon.

Benefits

Protecting people

• Range of laminated glass which reduces the risk of injury by accidental human impact.
• Remains in place, even if broken.
• 6.4mm is the most widely used thickness for protecting people against risk of accidental injury giving a Class B performance to BS 6206: 1981.
• Main applications include building entrances, internal doors, overhead glazing, swimming pools, shop display windows and windows in critical locations.
  In these applications Pilkington Optilam™ will resist manual penetration and provide some security protection in addition to safety.
• Can be combined with Pilkington T glass in a Pilkington Insulight™ IGU to give maximum overhead glazing protection.
• Available incorporating Pilkington Optifloat™ Tint and Pilkington Suncool™ to provide safety combined with solar control properties. The latter can also be achieved by using a tinted PVB interlayer and is known as Pilkington Optilam™ I.
• Available in combination with Pilkington K Glass™ in Pilkington Insulight™ IGUs to enhance thermal insulation whilst providing safety.