GANA Tempering Division Meets

JANUARY 29--The view out the windows at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa was idyllic: children playing peacefully beneath a bright blue sky, couples on a lazy Sunday afternoon walk along the coast, cyclists pedaling surrounded by the panorama of the sun, sky and sail before them. Yet, on this same afternoon, deep in the recesses of Marriott, closeted a way in windowless room, sat a group of approximately 50 dedicated individuals toiling away. They came with one thing in common: they were all temperers-temperers donating their Sunday afternoon to the Glass Association of North America's Glass Tempering Division (GTD) meeting. Despite the call of the gentle breeze outside, division members met today as part of Glass Week 2006, being held at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa in Dana Point, California.

The afternoon began with a meeting of the Standards and Engineering Committiee. An overview of the upcoming Engineering Standards Manual was provided. GANA technical director Greg Carney led the group through a chapter-by-chapter look at the upcoming manual.

This short meeting was followed by a much longer one: that of the Construction Subcommittee, which spent the majority of its time in an off-the-record discussion. The group also is putting the finishing touches on the draft of its upcoming Glass Information Bulletin (GIB) entitled Quench Patters in Heat-Treated Architectural. The subcommittee expects the draft to be put out for comment shortly. It also previewed the topics to be developed into a new Glass Information Bulletin about today's high performance glasses that may require heat-strengthening (a title has not yet been selected). The group extended the deadline for review of its GIB about proper glass cleaning until February 13th. Division members were urged to review the current document and provide feedback about areas that need updating to Carney.

The meeting of the Optical Distortion Subcommittee, also known as the successor to the Roller Wave Committee, began after a five-minute break. This subcommittee currently is developing test methods to measure observed deviation from flatness of heat-treated architectural glass.

The subcommittee began by reviewing the work of yet another committee-the American Society of Testing Material's (ASTM's) C14.11 Committee on Optical Distortion. The next meeting of the ASTM group is on Monday April 3 at ASTM headquarters and all interested GANA members were cordially invited to attend. Joe Feingold of Strainoptic Inc. was named the new chairperson of the subcommittee.

The Hole and Notch Specification Task Group (HNSTG) reported next and began with its own subcommittee reports. Chairperson Bill Coddington of W.S. Coddington Consulting LLC. asked the group the rhetorical question about what the subcommittee should tackle next. "Should we be working on the best practices for holes and notches in a variety of applications?" he asked. "There are a lot of applications, particularly in heavy glass and point-supported glass, that need to be discussed. We need to make sure the trade knows that ASTM C10.48 guidelines [here in the States] are not stringent enough in a lot of applications. Many applications take tighter guidelines and those are the types of things we are going to try and put together," said Coddington.

A report on the Vehicle Subcommittee was then provided. It detailed some changes in the requirements for glazing used in motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment. (Visit glassbytes.com today for more information)

Greg Carney provided a report on The Standards and Education Subcommittee effort to educate those who are attempting to fabricate glass after heat-treatment. Carney said a GIB is in the works on this issue. "We know it's happening. Consultants are telling us its happening and we need to get the word out that this could be a big problem," said Carney. "I am really concerned that down the road this is going to give the industry a black eye if there are failures that are caused by post-heat treatment fabrication," said Bob Brown of Robert L. Brown and Associates, LLC.

The group also previewed the upcoming ISO standard for flat glass. Currently available in draft form, the newly-proposed international standard has some provisions radically different that what's been included in the ASTM standards in the United States. It includes new test criteria for the assessment of fragmentation that occurs in the pendulum drop test. "It is unlike any tests used in the United States in the past", according to GANA technical director Greg Carney. The draft document also includes a chart for maximum values for overall and roller wave that are much more stringent than those currently used in the United States. Carney detailed approximately 14 areas of concern with the proposed standard. "I think it is critical that if these things move forward, and it does become an international standard … it will be dramatically different than our ASTM standard has been in the United States. It will affect us quite a bit. We have got a lot of differences and we must determine the best course of action," he said.

"We have to be careful that, if the design is coming from England or France of Spain, then you need to produce to the European Standard. The European designs have different stress levels and tolerances than we are used to dealing with ... you have to keep that in mind when you are fabricating glass for those systems," added Coddington.

The afternoon ended with a division membership meeting. The division added eight new members in 2005 and lost one due to consolidation. Another member has already been added this year.

A new GIB is also in the works to address differences between ANSI Z97.1 and the CPSC regulations. The bulletin is out for comment now and expected to be released before the end of the year.

The Division also recognized two members for extraordinary service. It recognized Rick Wright for his work on behalf of the division during the past eight years. Wright then paid homage to Bill Murphy of Tamglass, who has been in the industry for more thirty years and is in the process of retiring. "A lot of manufacturers know Bill as someone who is extremely helpful to all the manufacturers," said Wright. "Bill actually goes back to the Hordis Brothers days. He has been involved in tempering, spare parts, training, handling operations from Hordis Brothers to PGL to HGP to Tamglass. He has helped a lot of people in this room."

Outgoing GTD chairperson Ren Bartoe was also honored for his service to the committee, in a tribute that included some candid slides of Bartoe in action.

The meeting ended at 4:30 p.m., just in time for the division members to finally get to enjoy the view…of the sun setting over the horizon.

Photo caption: Outgoing tempering division chair Ren Bartoe of Vesuvius USA (left) receives an award for his eight years of service from Mike Ondrus of Atwood Mobile Products Inc.at the conclusion of the division's meeting during Glass Week 2006. Photo courtesy of Brian Pitman.