Eastman’s Saflex™, a leading provider of stiff PVB interlayers for glass applications, shared its latest achievement with approvals for Saflex Structural PVB interlayer from two national authorities, German Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt) and allgemeine Bauartgenehmigung (aBG), and the French Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment, CSTB, (Document Technique d’Application (DTA)).
Saflex Structural PVB interlayer was the first stiff PVB to be approved in Germany back in 2016. Since that time, Saflex Structural PVB interlayer properties were further confirmed in extensive research conducted at the TU Darmstadt and the University of the German Armed Forces from 2017 to 2019. The values from this work have now been accepted by the DIBt as design values and included in the current aBG even when the product remained unchanged in the past decade.
In France, Saflex PVB Structural interlayer was rigorously tested by the Scientific and Technical Center for Buildings (CSTB) and evaluated by the relevant expert group, resulting in the publication of a French DTA, making Saflex Structural PVB interlayer the first and only stiff PVB interlayer approved so far for general use in France.
The revised German approval allows for a better set of modulus values, particularly for wind and snow loads, enabling engineers and specifiers to design with greater accuracy and efficiency. The most significant increase in modulus values for wind loads, from 2 to 10 MPa, provides specifiers with unparalleled convenience and flexibility. Additionally, the revised approval also includes increased values for snow loads (from 20 to 130 MPa) and live loads based on temperature, making it relevant for balustrade designs.
“We are thrilled to receive the aBG approval from the German DIBt and DTA approval from France,” said Oliver Osborne, commercial director of AMI architecture with Eastman. “We hope this will empower architects and engineers to create more sustainable and cost-effective designs, while maintaining the highest standards of safety and performance.”