Ceramic Fritted Glass

Ceramic fritted glass consists of a ceramic based paint screen printed onto clear, tinted, patterned or reflective glass (pyrolytic only). It can also be referred to as colour clad, ceramic fired, ceramic backed or even an opacified glass. Ceramic fritted glass has a major use in building cladding. Its main function is to match or contrast vision panels where an all glass facade is desired. The glass is heat strengthened or toughened which fuses the paint to the glass creating a permanent durable coating. The benefit of heat strengthening is apparent, where upon breakage, the glass tends to fragment into large pieces and stay intact in the opening or framework. The other main benefit of ceramic fritted products for spandrel applications is their greater durability in comparison with various other methods of spandrel glazing.
If matching vision and spandrel panels, the general rule is that products with a visible light transmittance greater than 20% are difficult to match. Greater matching is achieved with high reflecting products with lower visible light transmittance (14% or below).
One method to assist in matching is to use igu’s with the reflective coated surface and an opaque ceramic painted frit on surface. Igu’s create the perception of depth similar to that of the vision panel; reduce condensation and longevityquality problems sometimes associated with other methods below.
A second method is to directly bond a plastic opacifier film to a single glazed reflective glass panel on surface. This cost effective factory applied film requires adequate ventilation to avoid damage to the film when excessive heat build up occurs. Opacifier should be cut back in structural silicone glazing situations for maximum bond strength between glass and silicone.
With contrasting panels, the use of monolithic or single glazed ceramic fritted glass is commonly used. All spandrel glass panels should be heat strengthened because of the high risk of thermal breakage.