Tempered glass—also known as toughened glass—is a strengthened material used when traditional annealed glass isn’t strong enough. Tempered glass is created by heat processing glass, making it up to four times stronger.
Uses and Applications of Tempered Glass
Tempered glass is immensely versatile and used in a wide variety of products. Tempered glass is used in automobile windows to make them less dangerous in the event of an accident. Tempered glass will break into smaller, duller pieces than annealed glass, making it the safer choice.
Tempered glass can also be found around the home in heat-adjacent objects such as stovetops, counters, ovens, and tabletops.
Essentially, toughened glass can be found anywhere that requires glass to withstand a great deal of wear and tear. It is specifically made to avoid injury in case of breakage and provides an ideal solution for:
- High-pressure windows
- Lighting products
- Explosion-proof windows
- Display cases
Related Processes and Specific Requirements of Glass Tempering
Tempered glass is created by heating glass. The tempering process involves a couple of steps:
- Heating. The glass travels through a high-heat tempering oven and is heated to approximately 1200 °F.
- Quenching. After it has been sufficiently heated, the glass is then quenched—or cooled down. The quenching procedure is very fast, and consists of several nozzles blasting the glass with cool air for several seconds. This is where tempered glass gets its strength—this dramatic shock causes the surface and edges to become compressed, and the inner layer to be in tension, thus strengthening the material by three to five times.
Tempered Glass Solutions from Swift Glass
At Swift Glass, our expert thermal glass tempering services are of the highest quality. Whether your project is big or small, you can feel secure knowing Swift Glass provides only carefully inspected, high-quality tempered glass parts.
In addition to our thermal tempering and chemical strengthening capabilities, our experienced specialists provide numerous services, including ultra-high pressure cold cutting, chemical strengthening, CNC machining, printing, drilling, and polishing.
To learn more about the benefits of tempered glass, download our eBook, “Creating Glass That Withstands Extreme Environments,” or contact us with any further questions.
