Glossary – our knowledge from A to Z

This was a green-tinted potash glass. The greenish covering was due to the iron oxide in the quartz sand used.

This is the imaginary line followed when using a stair. It begins at the nosing of the first step, is in the middle of the stair width and ends at the nosing of the last step.

Usually a small bar-type component, loaded in tension, for fixing components together. Wall ties are used to tie together the leaves of masonry cavity walls.

Wallner lines or ridges at the edge of the glass are caused when glass is broken. With a clean break, they should run evenly and rounded over the broken edge.

The designation for an insulating glass spacer with improved thermal properties.

This is a single-leaf façade made up of layers of the same or different materials. This single-leaf façade construction performs the weatherproofing and thermal insulation functions.

In membrane constructions the method of manufacture results in a difference between the warp and weft directions. The warp direction is parallel to the length of the material, the weft direction at 90° to this, i.e. transverse to the roll of material. Most membranes are less stiff in the weft direction than in the warp direction. These two primary directions are a result of the weaving process.

A water-soluble glass (sodium silicate) that is an intermediate product for sol-gel processes.

A special nozzle is directed at the joint in a façade for spraying with a specific pressure from a certain distance. No water may infiltrate the joint in this test.

This specifies to what degree water vapour can penetrate an insulating material. This is important for the use of an insulating material in addition to its ability to absorb or repel water.

Complex glass geometries can be produced with a help of a water jet. The cut edges have a matt, slightly roughened surface. Toughened safety glass cannot be cut with a water jet because it would be totally destroyed.

This is one unit of work done or energy. 1 Wh corresponds to the amount of energy expended or consumed in 1 h by a machine with a power of 1 W.

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This consists of barriers to wind and rain. Should rainwater nevertheless infiltrate the junction between window and adjoining component, it must be able to drain away directly to the outside in a controlled manner. It must also be guaranteed that moisture from inside the building infiltrating the weatherstripping zone can escape to the outside.

Weight is the force exerted by a body due to the force of gravity acting on its mass. Weight is used instead of mass in structural calculations especially.

The interface between two workpiece edges connected by welding.

This test according to DIN 50111 (standard now withdrawn) is used to assess the deformation capacity of welded connections. The different (material) areas of weld seam, heat affected zone (HAZ) and parent metal are checked separately in succession for their deformation capacities.

This describes the property of being able to create a material bond between components by means of a welding-type procedure. The weldability of a component depends on how suitable the material is for welding, whether the assembly is accessible for welding and whether the functionality of the assembly is still guaranteed after welding.

This describes whether a steel is suitable or unsuitable for welding processes. Unalloyed and low-alloy steels with a low carbon content are readily weldable. However, even high-alloy steels and aluminium and copper alloys can still be welded using special methods.

This is the ability of a material to form a permanent connection between itself and the same material or a different material by means of welding.

Such fixings are used when pane weights are so great that aluminium glass fixings are no longer adequate. Flat materials are used. The width must match the thickness of the pane. They are welded all round according to structural requirements. The thickness of seals and thermal breaks must be taken into account.

The raw material is either strip or sheet steel. We distinguish between two forms: longitudinal welded and spiral welded.

The permanent jointing of workpieces and components by means of heat or pressure. In fusion welding the parent materials are heated until they liquefy and can then be joined together.

This occurs as welded parts cool and is particularly problematic in the case of long weld seams and thin-wall components. Designing with welding in mind helps to avoid or at least minimise this problem.

Welding parameters and welding conditions are monitored during the production of a test weld. The test piece is then subjected to extensive non-destructive and destructive testing. If the results are positive, all welding parameters are recorded in a report (WPQR, welding procedure qualification record). This then serves as the basis for the final welding instructions.

A colourless base glass with a milky flashed layer for producing a diffuse light that reduces shadows.

A form of corrosion that affects zinc surfaces under certain conditions.

A steel beam section used in structural steelwork, e.g. in single-storey sheds, bridges, industrial and commercial buildings.

The wind pressure and suction forces acting on a structure or part thereof. This load is critical for the design of façade assemblies and their components. It is either specified in the tender documents or a reference is made to relevant standards.

This factor is calculated from the pressure specified in Austrian standard ÖNORM B 1991-1-4 and the position of the glazing in the façade.

A device for measuring the speed of the wind. In the case of a high wind speed it indicates when louvres should be raised or awnings retracted.

A report that specifies or verifies the wind loads to be expected for a construction project.

A window is an opening in a wall, usually an external wall of a building. Its purpose is to allow light and/or air into the interior of the building and permit a view into and/or out of the building.

A piece of window hardware used for opening and/or unlocking a window.

Various items that connect the movable part of a window, the opening light, to the fixed part, the window frame. Various types of hardware are available to suit the way in which the window is intended to be opened, e.g. fittings for side-hung, tilt-and-turn, sliding windows, etc.

The part of a window (or door) opening that forms the upper boundary to the opening. Lintels can be made from a variety of materials (timber, steel, reinforced concrete, masonry). Prefabricated lintels are frequently used in masonry walls. These are usually elements reinforced with round steel bars.

On a tilt-and-turn window, this device prevents the opening light being switched from the tilt to the turn position or vice versa when actuating the handle with the window open.

This is a product with, usually, a circular cross-section. Billets are hot-rolled to produce wire rods, which are wound into a helical form after passing through the roll stand. If thin wires are required (< 5 mm dia.), the diameter is further reduced by way of cold-forming in drawing plants.

A rope made from individual strands of steel laid (i.e. twisted) together. The lay of a wire rope is determined by the stranding machine, where the individual wires are passed through holes in a plate. The plate is rotated to create a wire rope from the individual wires. Often colloquially referred to as (steel) cable.

A rope whose individual strands are made from steel instead of fibres.

A screwed or bolted connection for – in most cases – steel wire ropes.

Wired glass is a polished glass with a welded wire mesh inlay. Subsequent working after rolling gives the glass essentially flat surfaces and the view through is practically undistorted. It belongs to the group of safety glasses; upon breakage, no fragments of glass can fall out of the frame.

A work platform enables work (e.g. maintenance, cleaning, painting, roofing, etc.) to be carried out on components above ground or floor level that would otherwise be inaccessible.