Have you ever wondered how toughened glass is made and what is it that makes the glass so strong? You wouldn’t be alone either, most people who have dropped something made of toughened glass will have asked themselves the same question after they’ve watched the item fall to the floor in slow motion through squinted eyes waiting for the smash and all they hear is a donk. Here’s how they do it;
Production process
You may have seen the terms, ‘toughened glass’ and, ‘tempered glass’, they are one of the same things and are created using a tempering furnace that uses regulated high temperatures or chemical treatments. This technique provides the glass a unique property (balanced internal tension), which makes it stronger. It is 5 times stronger than a standard glass sheet of the same thickness.
The tempering oven’s controlled thermal treatment primarily entails heating stress-free, annealed glass to a temperature somewhere between the glass softening point and a transition temperature, then rapidly cooling it with air jets while it is still extremely hot. As a result, the glass surface freezes while the interior remains liquid.
Varieties
Apart from colour, there are two types of toughened glass, one is called ‘fully tempered’, the other is called ‘heat strengthened’, the main difference being that ‘fully tempered’ glass is much stronger and more durable. It can also withstand immense amounts of heat so you may well see it used in things like ovens or kitchen areas that are exposed to extreme heat, consider glass top cooking hobs.
Construction specialists like The Frameless Glass Company have also made use of the processes and developed their own products for home use, which include things like shower cubicles, glass features for stairways, see through roofs, conservatories and sliding doors.
Unlike conventional glass windows which break into sharp pieces when they smash, often causing painful injuries, toughened glass will not. It would take a serious amount of pressure to break the glass and, even if you did, it would break into pieces or, blocks of glass with minimal injury risk. Because of its strength when opposed traditional glass used for things like wine glasses, you may well hear of toughened glass being referred to as safety glass.
The key features
There are actually more benefits than just being stronger, a brief rundown of what you should come to expect are;
- Superior strength with the ability to resist higher than usual stress.
- The glass will securely break into little cubes in the event of an accident.
- Resistance to chemical reactions
- It should react with hydraulic acid
- Thermally robust—able to endure extremely high temperatures
So, as you can see there are numerous advantages to using toughened or, tempered glass, so much so that you will see an increased use of the glass within the motor industry for things like glass roofs.
Make use of your local trades
If you are interested in the idea of having fully tempered glass products within your home or, property then check out one of your local specialists. There are numerous companies’ country wide but, using s local firm, if there is one, will be beneficial to you in terms of customer care and you will be helping the local economy.
