Flat Glass; a Type of Glass Commonly Used In Automotive and Construction Industries

Flat glass, also known as plate glass or sheet glass, is a type of glass commonly used for doors, windows, windscreens, solar panels, mirrors, and transparent walls, among others. Flat glass is manufactured by melting sand, silica, and soda ash into liquid and spreading it to the desired thickness and cooling leads to the final product of flat glass. Flat glass has wide usage in making modern architecture. This type of glass is widely used in automotive and construction industries for backlights, windscreens, and sunroofs, among others.

Thus, with the rapid growth of the automotive industry and increasing number of construction activities around the world, the demand for flat glass is also increasing with a rapid pace. The automotive industry in Japan is one of the most prominent and largest industries in the world. Japan is the world's 3rd largest automobile manufacturer and exporter in the world, and has six of the world's ten largest automobile manufacturers. This in turn is expected to increase the demand for flat glass in Japan.

Moreover, flat glass is widely used in solar panels, greenhouses, and interior decoration. The glass is flat like sheets of paper, and thus, sometimes called plate glass or sheet glass. Flat glass uses common glass-making raw materials, such as sand salt cake (sodium sulfate), limestone, dolomite, and soda ash (sodium carbonate), etc. Other materials can be used as refining agents, colorants, or to adjust chemical and physical properties of the glass. For modern architectural and automotive applications, flat glass is sometimes bent after production of the plane sheet.

Plate glass could be made in various weights or thicknesses. Today, flat glass is primarily made through the float process, which requires less space. Float glass has a perfectly flat and brilliant surface, so it is also called flat glass. Moreover, flat glass provides a clear view of objects when viewed through it. This allows 90% of the light coming from the sun to be transmitted into the room. It can also be used for further processing to produce other glass types. Thus, there is an increasing demand for flat glass worldwide.