Heat Strengthened Glass

When thinking of some of the world’s most dramatic, visually breathtaking buildings, they most likely involve large expanses of glass. Before these architectural masterpieces can be created, the glass may need to be heat-treated for durability and/or safety reasons. The type of processing required—heat-strengthening or tempering—depends on the glass’ specific application.

There are two different types of heat-treated glasses, heat-strengthened and tempered.

Heat strengthened glass is a semi tempered glass, which has been strengthened thermally by inducing a surface compression of 6000 to 9000 psi as compared to a range of 11000 to 20000 psi in case of fully tempered glass. It is two times stronger than annealed glass. Though it is not considered to be a safety glass, it is widely used on building facades due to better optics.