Adhesion of Plasticized Polyvinyl Butyral) to Glass

Abstract A study of safety glass provides a good example of the interplay among the many physical properties involved in “adhesion”, and the relationship between adhesion and performance. This work demonstrates the value of applying known fundamentals to practical problems. An idealized model of a windshield fracture event is described in terms of interactions among mechanical responses of the interlayer, the fracture characteristics of the glass and the high speed, low angle peel behavior. Data on the surface energies of glass, polyvinyl butyral) and water show that at thermodynamic equilibrium a stable system comprising glass, water and polyvinyl butyral) phases, an aqueous phase must lie between the glass and PVB. The potassium salts are shown to be effective because they are deliquescent and give solutions at equilibrium with the water in the PVB at water contents of ∼0.40% or higher. The greater the amount of salt at the interface and the higher the water content of the sheeting during lamination, th...