Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compressionand the interior into tension. Such stresses cause the glass, when broken, to crumble into small granular chunks instead of splintering into jagged shards as plate glass (a.k.a. annealed glass) does. The granular chunks are less likely to cause injury.

Tempered glass is physically and thermally stronger than normal glass. The greater contraction of the inner layer during manufacturing induces compressive stresses in the surface of the glass balanced by tensile stresses in the body of the glass. For glass to be considered tempered, this compressive stress on the surface of the glass should be a minimum of 69 megapascals (10,000 psi). For it to be considered safety glass, the surface compressive stress should exceed 100 megapascals (15,000 psi). As a result of the increased surface stress, if the glass is ever broken it only breaks into small circular pieces as opposed to sharp jagged shards. This characteristic makes tempered glass safe for high-pressure and explosion proof applications.

It is this compressive stress that gives the tempered glass increased strength. This is because annealed glass, which has almost no internal stress, usually forms microscopic surface cracks, and in the absence of surface compression, any applied tension to the glass causes tension at the surface, which can drive crack propagation. Once a crack starts propagating, tension is further concentrated at the tip of the crack, causing it to propagate at the speed of sound in the material. Consequently, annealed glass is fragile and breaks into irregular and sharp pieces.

Any cutting or grinding must be done prior to tempering. Cutting, grinding, and sharp impacts after tempering will cause the glass to fracture.

Application:

1.Facade

2.Curtain wall

3.Partition wall

4.Balcony

5.Windows

6.Door