Tempered Glass is safety glass processed by thermal or chemical treatment.

It is four times stronger

than normal annealed glass. It is called safety glass because when it breaks, it shatters into small
pieces that have much lower risk of injury. Tempered Glass has much higher tensile or bending strength
and better thermal shock resistance. It can withstand temperature changes of up to 200 Degree Celsius
without breaking.

WHAT IS TEMPERING?

Tempering is a process through which stress is developed in glass to increase the mechanical strength
four times than that of annealed glass. The stress distribution created is such that the outer surface is
under compression and the core is under tension. The compression on the outer surface gives glass
the strength and the tension at the core gives it the property of shattering into small pieces when the
glass fails and a breakage happens.

TYPES OF TEMPERING

There are two types of Tempering:

THERMAL TOUGHENING

 Horizontal Glass Flow

 Chemical Glass Flow

Thermal toughening is achieved based on the density difference between surface and midplate.

CHEMICAL TOUGHENING
Chemical toughening is done similar to electroplating. It involves dipping the glass in salt bath in 400
Degree Celsius for 12 to 36 hours. It is not suitable for mass production.

Annealed Glass is glass that has not undergone any treatment process like
toughening, lamination or heat strengthening. Also known as 'normal'
glass, it is most commonly used for residential windows. It is brittle and
very strong in compression. The use of annealed glass is limited owing to
its low toughness, low tensile strength and low thermal shock resistance.
Sudden change in temperature can cause the glass to break. When
annealed glass breaks, it forms sharp, knife-like fragments. Annealed
Glass has minimal residual stress and the stress is uniformly distributed.
 Ceramic fritted glass is a decorative
glass that has glass enamel fused into
the glass surface.
For the manufacturing of a ceramic frit glass, Ceramic frit is applied to the
glass through a fine mesh screen with glass enamel before the glass is
tempered or heat strengthened. On tempering or heat strengthening, the
glass enamel fuses with the glass surface and becomes a permanent
coating which cannot be damaged or removed by cleaning, scrubbing etc.

Characteristics of Ceramic Printed Glass:

Ceramic frit design and percentage coverage affects the light transmission
& solar heat gain of glass. Light frit colors and certain pattern designs can
cause enhanced brightness when viewed from indoors under certain
daylight and background sky conditions, while dark frit colors will tend to
reduce glare.

Benefits of Ceramic Printed Glass

Combining silk-screened glass with clear, tinted, Low-E, or reflective

glass, can control light transmittance, reduce solar heat gain and enhance
aesthetic & performance characteristics.

Applications of Ceramic Printed Glass

Silk-screened glass can be specified for both exterior and interior

applications. When used on building exteriors, the painted surface must be
protected from direct contact with the environment and is normally found
in an insulating glass unit.

Major applications include semi -transparent and translucent silk-screened

glass for interior applications, including glass doors, partitions, handrails,
glass ceilings, bathrooms, elevator walls and shower enclosures.

Ceramic frit glass can be used in curtain walls; point fixed or bolted
glazing systems, shower installations, glass doors and partitions. The size,
density and color would determine the opacity and shading whereas the
 variety of dots, squares, checks and patterns will give many design
combinations to achieve the desired effect.

Saint-Gobain Infinity’s range of

solar control glasses allow optimum
daylight to pass through but cuts
radiation and reflects heat. Infinity
range of glasses have special coating
that provides superior UV protection
while ensuring indoor temperatures
rema
When solar radiation strikes glass, it is partly reflected, partly absorbed in
the thickness of the glass and partly transmitted.

The ratio of each of these 3 parts to the incident solar radiation defines the
reflectance factor, the absorptance factor and the transmittance factor of
the glazing.

Transmittance, Reflectance and Absorptance Factors

The transmittance, reflectance and absorptance factors are the ratios of the
transmitted, reflected or absorbed radiant flux to the incident radiant flux.

Solar control

To help reduce overheating, the following steps can be taken:

 Ensure adequate ventilation
 Use low energy transmission glazing, known as solar control glass. This glass
allows only a specified fraction of solar radiation energy to pass through, providing
illumination but helping to prevent overheating.

Solar control glazing

There are three major considerations regarding solar control glazing:

 The reduction of solar energy heat gain to achieve the lowest possible solar factor
 The control of heat transfer from the outside to the interior by means of the lowest
U-value possible
 To achieve a good level of natural daylight through optimum light transmittance
value possible

Choosing Glass

In tropical countries like India, we need to be careful in selecting the right

glass. Nowadays, there are various types of glass solutions available.
Selecting the right product is critical in maximizing the benefits possible
from glass.

The key performance concepts in designing a building envelope with glass

are explained below:
 Solar Factor also known as Solar Heat Gain Co-efficient
 U-value
 Relative Heat Gain

Solar Factor

Heat gain on the inside of the building due to direct solar radiation incident
on glass is measured through the Solar Factor of glass.

Solar Factor is the sum of the percentage of incident solar energy directly
transmitted and incident solar energy absorbed and re-emitted inside.

Solar factor = (b+e)/a

U-value

Heat gain due to temperature difference is expressed by the U-value of a

glass. U-value is the amount of heat transferred (lost/gained) due to a
temperature differential of 10C between inside and outside, per square
meter.
Relative Heat Gain (RHG) or Total Heat Gain (THG)

It is the term that describes the amount of heat energy entering through the
glass due to the direct solar radiation incident and heat transfer due
temperature differential.

RHG = (Solar incident energy x Solar Factor of glass) + (U-value in W/sq.

m K x Temperature Difference)

Careful attention needs to be paid to

choose the right glass. The choice of
the right glass can confer thermal
insulation and thereby contribute to
comfort for all seasons, day and
night!
Thermal exchanges

Whenever differences in temperature exist between surfaces, heat will

migrate from the warmer area to the cooler area. This is true of all
surfaces. However, a glazed surface is special in that it is also transparent
to solar radiation which results in free heat gain.

Heat Exchanges through a surface

Heat is exchanged through a surface and hence lost in any of 3 different

ways:

The heat flow between the two faces of a sheet of glass depends on the
temperature differences between the faces and the thermal conductivity of
the material.
 The thermal conductivity of glass is λ = 1.0 W/(m.K)
 Conduction is the transfer of heat within a body or between two bodies in direct
contact. No material is physically moved during this type of transfer.
 Convection is the transfer of heat between the surfaces of a solid and a liquid or a
gas. This type of transfer involves movement via circulation.
 Radiation is the transfer of heat by radiation between two bodies at different
temperatures.

At ambient temperature, this radiation takes place in the infra-red band of

the spectrum, at wavelengths above 5 µm. It is proportional to the
emissivity of these bodies.

Emissivity is related to the surface characteristic of a body. The lower the

emissivity, the weaker the heat transfer

The normal emissivity εn of glass is 0.89. Certain types of glass can be

modified by means of a low emissivity coating, in which case εn can be
less than 0.10.

Thermal transmittance of a surface

U-value:

Heat transmittance through a surface by conduction, convection and

radiation is expressed by its U-value.

This is the rate of heat loss per square metre for a temperature difference
of 1 degree Kelvin, or Celsius, between the interior and exterior.

It is possible to calculate a specific U-value by using design values of the

surface exchange co-efficients, which will take into account environmental
variants, such as wind speed.

The lower the U-value, the lower the heat loss.

The U-value of glazing

The principle behind double glazing is that by enclosing a cavity of dry

still air between two sheets of glass, heat exchange by convection is
reduced and the low thermal conductivity of the air limits heat loss by
conduction.
 For eg: 6 mm clear glass in single glazing configuration has a U-value of
5.7 W/sq.m K. If the clear glass is used in a standard double glazing
configuration of 6 mm clear glass – 12 mm air filled cavity – 6 mm clear
glass, the U-value drops to 2.8 W/sq.m K

Improving the U-value of windows

Improving the U-value means reducing the transfer of heat by conduction,

convection and radiation.

Since it is impossible to alter the internal and external heat transfer co-
efficients, any enhancements are brought about by reducing heat exchange
between the two glass components of the double-glazed-unit:
 Radiated heat transfer can be reduced by using glass with a low -emissivity or low-
e coating.
 Capitalizing on this concept, Saint-Gobain has developed a range of low-emissivity
coated glasses which provide enhanced thermal insulation:
 SGG Planitherm
 SGG Nano
 SGG Nano Silver
 SGG Envision
 SGG Xtreme
 Heat loss by conduction and convection can be further reduced by replacing the air
in the cavity with a gas with lower thermal conductivity ( generally argon)