Tempered glass

Description

A high strength Plate glass that has been reheated and held above its annealing point (650C or 1200F), then flash cooled. The tempering process produces glass that is 3-5 times stronger than ordinary plate glass of the same thickness (Konrad, 1995). However, it cannot be cut or ground. Tempered glass was first used in 1942. It is used for large doors and windows, display cases, tables, shelves, aquariums, refrigerator trays, cookware, mobile screen protectors, and automobile windows. On impact, tempered glass shatters into small, granular pieces with round-edges. Tempered glass is not recyclable. When viewed through a polarizing filter, tempered glass shows variations in stress.

Synonyms and Related Terms

vidrio templado (Esp.); verre trempé (Fr.); gehard glas (Ned.); vidro recozido (Port.); vidro temperado (Port.); heat-strengthened glass; hardened glass; toughened glass; safety glass; Tuf-Flex [Libbey-Owens-Ford]; Herculite [PPG]

Resources and Citations

• Wikipedia: Tempered glass Accessed Oct. 2023
• K.Konrad, K. Wilson, W. Nugent, F.Calabrese, "Plate Glass", in Twentieth-Century Building Materials, T. Jester (ed.), McGraw-Hill: New York, 1995.
• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996
• Thomas C. Jester (ed.), Twentieth-Century Building Materials, McGraw-Hill Companies, Washington DC, 1995
• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "industrial glass." Accessed 2 Dec. 2004.