Ultrastrong glass finally finds use

[Darth Avlectus]

Link-oh.

 

CORNING, N.Y. (AP) -- An ultra-strong glass that has been looking for a purpose since its invention in 1962 is poised to become a multibillion-dollar bonanza for Corning Inc.

 

The 159-year-old glass pioneer is ramping up production of what it calls Gorilla glass, expecting it to be the hot new face of touch-screen tablets and high-end TVs.

 

Gorilla showed early promise in the '60s, but failed to find a commercial use, so it's been biding its time in a hilltop research lab for almost a half-century. It picked up its first customer in 2008 and has quickly become a $170 million a year business as a protective layer over the screens of 40 million-plus cell phones and other mobile devices.

 

How about employed in, I dunno, vehicles and such? I'm sure there were MANY times super strong glass could have been used...Perhaps as a state of the art life saving barrier? Aquarium? High pressure? Vacuum chamber?

 

Hell, maybe a 30" plasma globe that costs in the neighborhood of ~$10,000USD could have benefitted, albeit even more expensive, from being breah proof? There are more than a few wacky museums out there with huge plasma globes...

 

I have a hard time believing ultra strong glass couldn't find much use...

 

Because Gorilla is very hard to break, dent or scratch, Corning is betting it will be the glass of choice as TV-set manufacturers dispense with protective rims or bezels for their sets, in search of an elegant look.

 

Gorilla is two to three times stronger than chemically strengthened versions of ordinary soda-lime glass, even when just half as thick, company scientists say. Its strength also means Gorilla can be thinner than a dime, saving on weight and shipping costs.

 

Corning is in talks with Asian manufacturers to bring Gorilla to the TV market in early 2011 and expects to land its first deal this fall. With production going full-tilt in Harrodsburg, Ky., it is converting part of a second factory in Shizuoka, Japan, to fill a potential burst of orders by year-end.

 

Well I guess it's good news that we're *finally* using it after all this time leave it sit.

 

 

Read more in the article if you want to see more.

 

Thoughts?

[Lynk Former]

For some reason I'm reminded of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home when Scotty taps on a keyboard for about 15 seconds and then shows that guy how to make a much thinner and ultra strong type of glass...

[Astrotoy7]

Safety glass is preferable in vehicles and such. Imagine being trapped in a car/bus and not being able to get out!

 

For phones/TVs - Gorilla glass is pretty impressive.

 

For those that like something a bit more visual.

 

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mtfbwya

[True_Avery]

The thing about Ultra Strong Glass is that the stuff shares the same problems that, say, ultra strong metal does:

 

Its heavier. It doesn't bend or stretch as easily, thus it is either too strong, or has the possibility to crack like a diamond. Using it under extreme pressures, for example, could be a very bad idea because the glass would have little to no give. Commercial glass does bend and warp depending on winds, pressure, temp, etc but this stuff may have a higher shatter rate due to it having a lower warp threshold.

 

For those reasons and more it would be incredibly stupid to, say, use it as a car windshield. You could trap yourself, could crack under some rain and temp changes more easily, etc. For those reasons, I also wouldn't use it as an aquarium for the same reason I wouldn't, say, make an aquarium out of diamond.

 

It has its use as cellphone and computer screens, but ultra hard doesn't make it efficient.

 

Just my ignorant 2 cents.

[mimartin]

How about employed in, I dunno, vehicles

You may think that until you plant your face in the windshield during an auto accident. If it ever happens that the change the glass, then you may long for the old days when safety glass was the industry standard.

[Darth Avlectus]

You may think that until you plant your face in the windshield during an auto accident. If it ever happens that the change the glass, then you may long for the old days when safety glass was the industry standard.

 

I might long for it if I wasn't dead in your theoretical scenario; though I wasn't talking about the standard fare vehicles...

[Tommycat]

In vehicles? No way... say you get in an accident, and your doors are jammed shut. You have power windows. Your battery is a lump of goo on the ground. Your fuel line ruptures in the impact and starts dumping fuel on your exhaust. How strong would you want that glass to be now?

[Astrotoy7]

.. though I wasn't talking about the standard fare vehicles...

 

Indeed, tough glass is used in such special purpose vehicles, to protects heads of state and religious leaders

 

mtfbwya

[mimartin]

Indeed, tough glass is used in such special purpose vehicles, to protects heads of state and religious leaders

The Popemobile?

 

Show spoiler

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Wait, wrong picture.

 

Show spoiler

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The we go.

 

 

 

I’m sorry GTA, I don’t know why when you flippantly wrote ‘vehicle’, I just assumed you meant the cars we driver every day. As to my theoretical scenario, well it is one that I have seen far too often happen in reality. Shooing seagulls away from a vehicle before scraping some dead kid’s brain matter off the dash in order to get the vehicle identification number makes you think about that kind of stuff.

[Q]

The first one is definitely a more appropriate ride for the Panzer Pope™.

 

@topic: Yeah, I'm surprised that they hadn't come up with a use for super-strong glass until nearly fifty years after its invention.

[mimartin]

Well if they used super-strong glass in cookware and dishes, how would they ever sell us more cookware or dishes? At least with the TV screens and cell phones, they will wear out or become obsolete. Really isn’t a lot of technical advancement in a drinking glass to make them obsolete. So without breakage, manufacturers would put themselves out of business by making something that last that long.

[Boba Rhett]

The thing about Ultra Strong Glass is that the stuff shares the same problems that, say, ultra strong metal does:

 

Its heavier. It doesn't bend or stretch as easily, thus it is either too strong, or has the possibility to crack like a diamond. Using it under extreme pressures, for example, could be a very bad idea because the glass would have little to no give. Commercial glass does bend and warp depending on winds, pressure, temp, etc but this stuff may have a higher shatter rate due to it having a lower warp threshold.

 

For those reasons and more it would be incredibly stupid to, say, use it as a car windshield. You could trap yourself, could crack under some rain and temp changes more easily, etc. For those reasons, I also wouldn't use it as an aquarium for the same reason I wouldn't, say, make an aquarium out of diamond.

 

It has its use as cellphone and computer screens, but ultra hard doesn't make it efficient.

 

Just my ignorant 2 cents.

 

 

[Q]

^Thank you.

[Tommycat]

heh... my Droid has Gorilla glass... Didn't even know that... Of course seeing as how I had it in my pocket with my Zippo, and a couple pounds of change in a mosh pit, I should have figured it did. Guess it would have sucked to have the iPhone...

 

No, that's not a slam of the iPhone.

[Darth Avlectus]

I just thought of a couple uses: Shriuken ninja star, and baseball bat.

 

In vehicles? No way... say you get in an accident, and your doors are jammed shut. You have power windows. Your battery is a lump of goo on the ground. Your fuel line ruptures in the impact and starts dumping fuel on your exhaust. How strong would you want that glass to be now?

Like I said, not your standard fare. Something more exotic (translation: Relatively useless or geared to a single purpose).

 

I’m sorry GTA, I don’t know why when you flippantly wrote ‘vehicle’, I just assumed you meant the cars we driver every day. As to my theoretical scenario, well it is one that I have seen far too often happen in reality. Shooing seagulls away from a vehicle before scraping some dead kid’s brain matter off the dash in order to get the vehicle identification number makes you think about that kind of stuff.

 

Not a problem.

 

Yeah, I have a buddy who got out the army about 1 year ago. He was doing mortician work and had his own fair share of those kinds of stories. I can sort of relate in a secondhand sort of way.

 

For some reason though, the hardest part about that is having to tell the family.

[Trench]

I have a practical application. Make knives out of it.

[True_Avery]

Ah, thank you for correcting me.

 

In that case, then I agree with GTA: Why has this not found much of any uses?

[Boba Rhett]

The secret ingredient is babies.