New Glass Resists Small Explosions

by Annina Bergman | September 14, 2009 at 02:41 pm

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A new type of glass may be able to resist earthquakes, hurricanes and small explosions better than regular glass, cheaper than tempered glass.

The sturdy glass was invented at Missouri University. It is less than half an inch (about 1cm) thick, using less and cheaper material than the blast-proof glass currently used to protect against bullets and other attacks. The new glass did not break in tests when a handgrenade was detonated close to it. Hopes are high it will save lives as there will be less shards during earthquakes and hurricanes.

Conventional blast-resistant glass is comprised of a layer of strong plastic sandwiched between two sheets of laminated glass. The new design is built stronger and thinner by replacing the plastic layer with a transparent composite material made of glass fibers embedded in plastic. The glass fibers are only about half the thickness of a typical human hair (25 microns), and leave less room for defects in the glass that could lead to cracking.

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