Mirror Glass

Mirror glass came originally from Venice, there are proofs that small mirrors were already being made in 1317.

Technical Characteristics

On the 16th century, it became possible to make mirros by using a backing of mercury and tin. Today, mirrors are made by coating a sheet of glass with a stannous chloride solution. This coating serves as a base for the reflective layer which consists of a mixture of silver nitrate, ammonia, caustic soda and distilled water and is only 0.01 mm thick. Once dryed, an extra coating can be added as protection for the reflective layer.

Applications

Façades and interior walls (personally I think all the elevators should have a big one).

Colour: Variable
Glossiness: Glossy, satin, matt
Translucence (%) 0 – 20 – 40 – 60 – 80 – 100
Texture: Sharp, medium, dull
Hardness: hard, soft, despressible
Temperature: warm, medium, cool
Odour: Strong, moderate, none
Acoustic opacity: good, moderate, poor

Laminated Glass

It's the result of bonding several layers of glass, providing safety from impact, burglary and can even be bullet proof.

Technical Characteristics

- The glass sheets are bounded with PVB (polyvinylbutyral) film: two or more sheets of glass with a film between them, rolled and heated.

- Quantity of layers depend on the level of safety you want.

- Replace one of this layers with a sheet of polycarbonate, the burglars will be all the morning trying to break it...

- Use a low iron content on the glass in order to keep it transparent.

You can glue the laminated glass with epoxy resin, a material I already described in this amazing blog. Laminated glass has also decorative properties. You can install wood veneers or tree leaves, photographic images. Laminated glass with resin will provide accoustical insulating properties.

Applications

Laminated glass is primarily used in the cases already mentioned. However toughened laminated glass may even be used as a building material, for example to improve the stability of glass façades or glass beams in glass roofs. News: laminated glass tubes used as elements in a space frame structure. or as compression bars in so called tensegrity structures.

Colour: Variable
Glossiness: Glossy, satin, matt
Translucence (%); 0 – 20 – 40 – 60 – 80 – 100
Texture: Sharp, medium, dull
Hardness: hard, soft, despressible
Temperature: warm, medium, cool
Odour: Strong, moderate, none
Acoustic opacity: good, moderate, poor

African Azobé Wood

Original from the tropical west Africa. The azobe tree can achieve 40 metres with clean trunk of 25 or 30 metres. It's used primarily in situations with heavy or demanding conditions. The heartwood is redish brown. Under the influence of light it gets "tanned", becoming dark red, even brown or an amazing violet sheen. Its texture is usually fairly coarse and its grain normally regular.

Technical Characteristics

Incredibly strong and hard. Exceptional natural durability and resistance, it doesn't need preservative treatments or protective coatings. The wood tends to loose its original color to some kind of grey, so if you want to maintain the reddish color, it will be necessary to apply non-filming coat.

- Azobe is supplied in large dimensions, free of defects.

- Azobe wood's shrinkage properties must be taken in account on the detailing of structures.

- Azobe extreme hardness combined with strong movement, make it inapropriate for gluing.

Applications

Because of its durability and capability of absorbing heavy loads, it is a popular choice for bridges, gates, and every structure that needs to stand heavy forces or adverse conditions. Fencing, decking, sheet piling must be also considered. Use on the façade its not recommended because it's very hard to glue it.

Colour: Reddish brown to dark-red
Glossiness: Glossy, satin, matt
Texture: Sharp, medium, dull
Hardness: hard, soft, despressible
Temperature: warm, medium, cool
Odour: Strong, moderate, none
Acoustic opacity: good, moderate, poor

Epoxy Resin

The great advantage of this material of fibre reinforced synthetic resins is that they make it possible to realize strong and rigid constructions with a relatively light weight, which is good news for mobile, prefab and temporary constructions.

Technical characteristics

Epoxy resin is a highquality, transparent, strong material. It is good to protect materials from insects. In construction and especially in boat-building it is used mainly in fibre-reinforced constructions. Epoxy resin doesnt shrink when it hardens, it is often used to make moulds. Owing to differences in viscosity, epoxy resins can be used as a coating, adhesive, filler, or laminating resin. Below the 10 Cº it has tendency to crystallize. So its better if used primarly in indoor applications. It has also poor UV resistance. Like polyester, epoxy can be coloured with pigments or, mixed with fillers.

Applications

Solvent-free epoxy resins are eminently suitable for preserving, gluing or restoring wood, or for laminating it to glass fabric. The absence of solvents also means that epoxy resins can safely be used on all types of foam.

Colour: Variable
Glossiness: Glossy, satin, matt
Translucence (%): 0 – 20 – 40 – 60 – 80 – 100
Texture: Sharp, medium, dull
Hardness: hard, soft, depressible
Temperature: warm, medium, cool
Odour: Strong, moderate, none
Acoustic opacity: good, moderate, poor

Expanded Polysterene EPS

Usually used primarly on roofs and façades as insulation, it has gained recently a use as a building material suitable for the creation of three dimensional forms. Contributing for this was the innovation of computer techniques like the controlled laser cutting and milling which allow EPS to be processed 3dimensionally.

Technical characteristics

On its structure EPS is composed by millions of beads, each of which forms an extremely fine closed cell. Its important to say that only approximately 4% of this material is on its essence polysterene, all the rest 96% is in fact air.
Its an incredible material, because of its low weight and relatively strong, fairly elastic, extremely stable, and in addition absorbs well the impact. It absorbs very little humidity, its fungus-resistant and resistant to most salts, acids, fats, and has good insulation properties. EPS is extremely hygienic and may come into direct contact with food products. There's also available a self-extinguish version. It comes in a wide range of hardness, making it possible to match the material to the demands of a given application. EPS is an ecologically friendly material: it is completely free of CFKs, is produced in an energy-efficient way and IS FULLY RECYCLABLE !

Applications

Interior and exterior applications.

Colour: Variable
Glossiness: Glossy, satin, matt
Translucence (%): 0 – 20 – 40 – 60 – 80 – 100
Texture: Sharp, medium, dull
Hardness: hard, soft, depressible
Temperature: warm, medium, cool
Odour: Strong, moderate, none
Acoustic opacity: good, moderate, poor