It’s my understanding that adhering steel to glass has not been an issue for some time. The issue is that they expand differently with heat. Which is why you have a rubber/flexible seal.
Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
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Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#12So how long till transparent aluminium?
Already exists under the brand name ALON (Aluminium Oxynitride).
It's hard as hell for a transparent ceramic, obvious military applications but useful in other places as well.
Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#13So how long till transparent aluminium?
Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#14Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#15Eyeglasses with frames welded to the lenses would be kinda cool, and may even justify current commercial price points (not that they would be sold for them).
Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#16Sounds really interesting. The only potential downside I see is that metal and glass generally expand differently under heat and have different tensile strengths etc. I wonder how they plan to deal with that.
I think it depends on the application and scale whether or not that is an issue.
For joints that are intended to remain at a constant temperature, no problem. For very small structures where thermal expansion amounts to very little relative displacements, also no problem.
But, yeah, this isn't a solution for joining outdoor windows to metal frames.
Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#17I would love to see some pictures.
Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#18Sounds really interesting. The only potential downside I see is that metal and glass generally expand differently under heat and have different tensile strengths etc. I wonder how they plan to deal with that.
Isn’t that the whole reason this is a breakthrough? It’s even discussed in the article...
Professor Duncan Hand, director of the five-university EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser-based Production Processes based at Heriot-Watt, said: “Traditionally it has been very difficult to weld together dissimilar materials like glass and metal due to their different thermal properties - the high temperatures and highly different thermal expansions involved cause the glass to shatter.
Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#19Sounds really interesting. The only potential downside I see is that metal and glass generally expand differently under heat and have different tensile strengths etc. I wonder how they plan to deal with that.
“We tested the welds at -50C to 90C and the welds remained intact, so we know they are robust enough to cope with extreme conditions.”
Re: Welding breakthrough could transform manufacturing
#20It’s my understanding that adhering steel to glass has not been an issue for some time. The issue is that they expand differently with heat. Which is why you have a rubber/flexible seal.
“We tested the welds at -50C to 90C and the welds remained intact, so we know they are robust enough to cope with extreme conditions.”