Tempered Glass

Tempered glass, also called toughened glass, is float glass strengthened by a controlled heating and rapid cooling process that puts its outer surfaces into compression and its interior into tension, giving it several times the strength of ordinary annealed glass of the same thickness and causing it to shatter, if broken, into small, relatively blunt granular fragments rather than long dangerous shards. This safety characteristic has made it a required material for architectural applications with a higher risk of impact or breakage, including glass doors, shower enclosures, glass railings, floor-to-ceiling glazing near walking surfaces, and structural glass fins, since building codes in most jurisdictions mandate safety glazing in such locations.