Windshield Repair Defined
Safe Windshield Repair in Minneapolis & Saint Paul
Because of the natural forces that frequently bombard Minneapolis drivers, safe windshield repair has become a necessity.
When a rock or flying debris strikes your windshield, a certain amount of glass is displaced, allowing air and moisture to work their way into the damaged area. Windshield repair involves injection of a special resin into the damaged area using a tool that attaches directly to auto glass. Once injected, this resin is then cured and polished to restore the clarity of the glass. When a chip or crack occurs, it often spreads into the windshield's inner layer of plastic, called Poly Vinyl Butyral, or PVB, which is sandwiched between two layers of glass. In some instances, a drill is used to make a clean passageway to the plastic, where the resin is injected to repair the damage. Windshield repair accomplishes two tasks: it prevents the damage from spreading to the rest of the windshield, and improves the visual clarity of the damaged area, especially if the repair is made in a timely manner to prevent contaminants, which cannot be easily removed, from finding their way into the windshield. Some windshield repair specialists also say that the structural integrity of the windshield is improved, though no publicly available tests exist that support this claim.
Restoring the windshield's structural strength should be a top priority for repairers because structural strength relates directly to the safety of the driver and passengers. The average tensile strength of windshield glass is between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds per square inch (psi). The strength of a damaged windshield is obviously less. Therefore, the challenge facing a repair system is to repair the windshield and return its strength to that approaching or equaling its undamaged strength, and preventing flying glass (called spalling) from injuring vehicle occupants.
If severe windshield damage has left you in need of safe windshield replacement services in Minneapolis or St. Paul, please visit our Auto Glass page for more information.
