Tempered Glass
Tempered or toughened glass is a safety glass toughened and processed by controlled thermal and/or chemical treatments to avoid shattering the glass pieces in case of damage to the glass. Tempered glass breaks into many small pieces, avoiding the danger of injury caused by sharp edges and flying shards. By going through the tempering process, glass is treated with extreme heat. This gives tempered glass a very smooth finish, compared to standard float glass, which typically has edges that are rougher when touching.
Composition and Production
The glass is heated in a furnace to over 500 degrees Celsius and then rapidly cooled by high-pressure air blasts. The cooling of the outer layers of the glass is much quicker than the internal layers, so when the inside cools, it pulls away from the outer layers. Respectively, the inside remains in a state of tension, while the outside goes into a state of compression. These competing forces make tempered glass 4 to 5 times stronger than annealed glass based on ASTM Code C1048 standards.
In the case that tempered glass breaks, it shatters into small pieces that are void of dangerous, sharp edges. As tempered glass is considered to be much safer than normal glass, it is also referred to as safety glass or toughened glass.
Additionally, it’s impossible to re-size, re-cut, or re-shape glass without damaging it once it has been tempered. All sizing must occur before the float glass is treated. As a main characteristic, damage to any part of tempered glass shall cause the entire glass sheet to shatter, so precision and custom installments are highly recommended.
Supply of Iran Tempered Glass
In Iran, tempered glass processing is a flourished industry with very high domestic consumption in addition to the exports to over 40 countries. Therefore, Iranian secured glass is already part of the supply chain in the international market making it easier to buy.
The competitive advantage of Iranian Tempered glass lies with vast availability of float glass as a raw material in addition to more economical energy costs comparing to its competitors such as Turkish Glass Makers.
While the supply is widely available, it is not always easy to find standard and stable production for an international demand and the variety of the base glass could also provide confusion. As a supplier of Float glass with good amount of allocations, Zista Group has a complete dominance in choosing its suppliers of tempered glass as the raw material is fully controlled along with the experience in the business to wisely push the export cases to economical edges without damaging the quality of supply. This has resulted in developing markets in CIS and EU countries while the potentials of supply are endless based on the three main advantages provided by Zista Group:
- Cheap Energy
- Domestic Raw Material availability (Float Glass)
- Commercial Knowledge and resources to control raw material and output at the same time
Tempered Glass Applications
One important benefit of tempered glass is its ability to withstand heating (240 °C). The process that creates this strengthened glass also makes it heat-resistant. This makes glass a great solution for a places where there is a danger of the glass breaking due to impact or moderate heat at the same time. Tempered glass is often used for fireplace doors, on masonry and prefabricated fireplaces. If tempered glass is exposed to higher temperatures, its structure is gradually weakened and thus making it more susceptible to breakage. Therefore, Tempered glass is not recommended in wood-burning applications.
Safety glass is often used in applications where using standard glass could pose a potential danger. In fact, the shower doors in your bathroom or the side glass on a motor vehicle are examples of tempered glass. (you may check Zista Group Shower Box Products here)
Common Application of Tempered Glass:
- Shower Cabins
- Kitchen Appliances
- Automotive Parts
- Construction Uses
- Sports Arena (Tennis Paddles…)
- Railings
- Countertops and Tabletops
- Solar Panels
