What is Flat Clear Tempered Glass?
“Flat Plain White” refers to the properties and appearance of the original glass. It uses ordinary soda-lime silicate glass, which undergoes preliminary processing such as cutting and edging to achieve a clear, transparent, and slightly greenish natural color (especially noticeable when viewed from the edge of the glass). This “plain white” base color provides extremely high light transmittance and a natural, realistic view, making it the most widely used basic glass type.
“Tempered” refers to its core identity, which has undergone a special processing technique. The glass is heated to near its softening point in a high-temperature furnace and then rapidly and evenly cooled by high-pressure cold air. This creates strong and uniform compressive stress on the surface and tensile stress within the glass. This stress structure significantly improves its mechanical strength and impact resistance, making it a “safety glass” that meets safety standards.
Thus, Flat clear tempered glass is a high-performance safety product derived from ordinary float glass that has undergone a heat-treated process. It combines high light transmittance, high strength, and high safety.
Characteristics of Flat Clear Tempered Glass
1. Extremely High Mechanical Strength: After tempering, its flexural and impact strengths are 3-5 times greater than those of ordinary annealed glass. It can effectively withstand significant wind pressure, external shocks, and certain thermal stresses, significantly enhancing the reliability of building envelope systems.
2. Excellent Safety: This is the core value of safety glass. When damaged by external forces, the glass shatters into small, blunt-angled particles resembling a honeycomb pattern, minimizing the risk of sharp scratches and penetration injuries, providing enhanced safety for those inside buildings.
3. Excellent Thermal Stability: Tempered glass’s resistance to sudden thermal shock is 2-3 times greater than that of ordinary glass. It can withstand temperature fluctuations of approximately 250°C (such as sudden downpours after a scorching day). It generally does not shatter due to drastic temperature swings, making it adaptable to complex and changing climates.
4. Perfect Flatness and Transparency: Based on high-quality float glass, this product exhibits excellent flatness and optical properties, with a light transmittance exceeding 85% (6mm thickness). It faithfully restores the original colors of scenery, avoids visual distortion, and provides a bright, clear, and natural lighting environment within buildings.
5. Strong Reprocessing Capability: Plain white tempered glass can be used as a base material for further processing, such as combining with other glass types to create insulating glass or laminated glass, thereby meeting diverse building requirements for higher energy efficiency, sound insulation, and security.
Applications of Flat Clear Tempered Glass
Due to its comprehensive advantages, Flat clear tempered glass is used virtually everywhere in the architectural field, becoming an indispensable “transparent armor” for modern architecture.
1. Architectural Doors, Windows, and Curtain Walls: This is its most mainstream application. As the preferred material for high-rise building curtain walls, all-glass doors, windows, and floor-to-ceiling windows, it achieves a transparent and bright exterior while ensuring adequate safety and wind resistance, breaking down the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces.
2. Interior Partitions and Guardrails: It is widely used in interior glass partitions, skylights, staircases, corridor guardrails, and paneling in offices, shopping malls, hotels, and residences. It can divide functional areas while maintaining a sense of transparency and integrity. Its safety features are particularly suitable for families with children and the elderly, as well as for public places.
3. Public Buildings and High-Crowd Areas: In public places with extremely high safety requirements, such as schools, hospitals, airports, train stations, and banks, it is often used in entrances, passageways, waiting areas, and barrier windows to prevent secondary injuries caused by accidental impacts.
4. Furniture and Decoration Applications: Beyond traditional architectural applications, it is also commonly used in modern furniture design, such as glass coffee tables, dining tables, cabinet doors, shelves, and decorative wall panels, adding a modern and minimalist touch to the home.
5. Skylights and Awnings in Low-Rise Buildings: Used in sunroofs, entrance awnings, and other areas, it provides protection from wind and rain while allowing in natural light. However, when used above head level, laminated tempered glass is generally recommended for foolproof protection.
Conclusion of Flat Clear Tempered Glass
Flat clear tempered glass may not be the most dazzling glass type, but it is the cornerstone of modern, safe, bright, and open architectural spaces. It safeguards a building’s visual beauty and inherent safety with the most discerning precision. Choosing it means choosing a reliable commitment that will withstand the test of time and nature. It helps you define the sharp contours of modern architecture and imbues it with a solid yet dynamic soul.
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