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Category Archive: Glass Tempering

FAQ — Thermal Glass Tempering

Tempered glass is one of the most popular choices for applications in which traditional, or annealed, glass may pose a safety hazard.

For nearly 100 years, Swift Glass has been providing quality custom glass fabrication services for a wide range of industries. To provide insight on the thermal glass tempering process and its various benefits, our experts have provided answers to some of the most common questions we field here.

Check out the FAQs below.

Manufacturing Strengthened Glass for Extreme Environments

High-intensity industrial processes call for durable equipment that will prove resistant in the face of even the toughest of applications.

Sheets of Factory manufacturing tempered clear float glass panels cut to sizeIf you’re carrying out procedures against harsh or extreme conditions, it’s essential that your application is equipped with the proper glass component. Tempered safety glass in windshields, for example, provides extra security in the event of breakage.

High performance glass is required to withstand a vast range of pressures, elements, and external factors, each of which vary by industry. When operating in high intensity environments susceptible to extraneous factors, it’s important to be aware of common concerns that can arise.

Below are a few common risks associated with extreme industrial climates, along with the glass strengthening solutions that help reduce those risks:

High-Pressure Exposure

One of the most frequently noted stress points for high performance glass, this can manifest itself in marine, architectural, and even aeronautical environments.

Strengthened glass, however, can help prevent or reduce the adverse effects of high pressure. In addition, strengthened glass helps shield your work environment from harm caused by explosions, bullets, and projectile aftermath, each of which may pose a threat to safety and productivity. Safety glass offerings, like tempering, can help to ensure a less devastating effect upon impact than with regular glass.

Extreme Temperatures

Exposure to extreme temperatures can result in potentially adverse effects upon operations. Fortunately, heat-treated glasses can offer dramatically increased protection against hazards like thermal shock. Heat treatment offers glass—a material often susceptible to high temperatures—increased protection against high-temperature breakage.

Harsh Environments

Exposure to intense, abrasive elements or harsh, wet and extreme environments holds the potential to work against high performance glass. For certain extreme or outdoor environments, heat-tempered glass may not be necessary, but it can provide exceptional resistance against thermal stresses and extreme wind pressure. Fully tempered glass, however, can offer unparalleled safety when it comes to ensuring safety break pattern. If operations are under harsh weather conditions, tempered glass ensures your work environment remains both active and safe.

Learn More in Our eBook

At Swift Glass, we’re dedicated to providing consumers with the high quality materials they need for safe, efficient, and effective day-to-day procedures. For additional information regarding glass strengthening solutions, access our new eBook titled Creating Glass That Withstands Extreme Environments.

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The Benefits of Glass Tempering and Strengthening

We interact with glass every day — we look through it, drink from it, and it helps us see clearly.

Thermal temperingBut not all glass is the same, and our ability to modify glass and improve its qualities is what allows us to use glass in applications where it would have been a safety hazard.

This modification process is referred to as glass tempering. Tempering is achieved through a thermal process. Chemical strengthening is achieved through an exchange path.

The heat tempering process involves subjecting glass to very high temperatures and then cooling it quickly. During chemical strengthening, chemicals applied to the glass change the surface to create compression.

In both instances, the outer surface of the glass is altered so that it has a higher compression than the interior glass which is in a state of tension.

This specialized glass has allowed industries to use strengthened glass in a wide variety of applications, as it delivers a variety of benefits:

  • Safety
    Tempered glass does not break apart and shatter as ordinary glass does. If the glass is broken, it will break into circular and small pieces and not sharp jagged shards that could cause harm. It is also easier and safer to clean up broken tempered glass without causing additional injury. Because of this it is widely used in high-pressure and explosion proof windows, lighting products, and doors for industrial and residential applications.
  • Durability
    The tempering process changes the composition of the glass giving it strength, durability, and scratch resistance. Tempering allows thin glass products to withstand harsh environmental conditions without losing their functionality. In medical, semiconductor, and energy applications, tempering enables glass to be successfully incorporated without fear of component failure.
  • Temperature resistance
    Its ability to withstand temperature fluctuations makes tempered glass suitable for aerospace and aviation applications, laboratory equipment, and household items. The ability to withstand high temperature and variations in temperatures makes this glass ideal for use in buildings to meet fire code regulations, fire engines, appliances, drinking glasses, cookware, and laboratory glassware.

Swift Glass is a leader in manufacturing tempered and strengthened glass for a wide range of industries and applications. Our extensive material selection includes float glass, Pyrex®, and Borofloat®.

Visit our website for more information about Swift Glass’s thermal glass tempering and chemical glass strengthening processes.

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