Chevrolet Malibu Auto Glass
There are two different types of safety glass on your Chevrolet Malibu sedan, which are designed to handle two different issues. The windshield is made of laminated glass that is designed to keep pieces of glass from flying all over the inside of your Malibu sedan during a collision. The side and rear windows are made from tempered glass, which is designed to handle the stresses of everyday driving and also shatter apart in small, dull shards that will not injure anyone inside your Chevrolet Malibu.
What is safety glass?With the implementation of safety glass, your Chevrolet sedan is surrounded with a product that was designed to keep passengers safe. Here is a little bit more on how these two different kinds of safety glass are designed.
Laminated glass is composed of a tripartite structure in which two sheets of standard glass are used to sandwich a sheet of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) in between them. PVB is a resin known for its strength, optical clarity, adhesive properties, durability, and flexibility. The sheets are compressed under great pressure and heat until they bond at the molecular level. The result is a windshield that spiderwebs upon impact, keeping the shattered glass from inflicting injury. Also, PVB reflects 95% of the suns UV rays, offering protection to both vehicle occupants and the Malibus interior.
Tempered glass needs to be much stronger if it is going to handle the jostling about that comes as a result of braking and driving your Chevrolet Malibu sedan down uneven and bumpy roads. The process consists of taking a piece of heated glass and quickly cooling it using high-powered fans. The exterior of the glass will cool before the interior, causing both compressive and tensile stress within the sheet. These stresses produce a sheet of glass that is five to 10 times stronger than standard glass and more than enough to deal with a moving vehicle. It is also a result of this process that the tempered glass shatters in the manner stated above.
When should you repair or replace the windows on your Chevrolet?During the life of your Chevrolet Malibu, you are bound to have some kind of chip or crack in your windows, and the question will arise of whether you should repair or replace it. Generally, if you have a chip in your midsize Chevy Malibus window larger than the size of a quarter, then you need to replace it. The same can be said for cracks longer than 3 inches.