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Hurricane-Proof Glass

Mechanical Engineers Develop Better Hurricane-Resistant Glass

June 1, 2004

A new hurricane-resistant glass uses a traditional three-layer sandwich of material: two pieces of glass on the outside and an improved middle layer made of fiberglass reinforced polymer. The fibers run at different angles, so, when debris hits the window, the stress waves disperse through it, reducing the shock to the glass. The glass can withstand a bullet flying one hundred miles an hour, and it will hold together through storms with debris coming at similar speeds.

What's so glassy about fiberglass?

Science behind the news is funded by a generous grant from the NSF

Glass forms when a mixture of sand, soda and lime is heated to a very high temperature into a liquid molten state. When it cools, it does not form crystals. So it is not a true solid material, even though it is rigid.

Fiberglass is composed of natural ingredients like sand and recycled window glass and bottles. The ingredients are melted down and spun into long strands of fibers that are woven together to form "glass wool."

Since the 1930s, it has been used primarily as insulation to reduce home energy costs, and also control noise transmissions in buildings from furnaces and duct systems. When coated with hardening materials, fiberglass can be molded into spa tubs, boats, and other shapes. Fiberglass comes in rolls, batts and also as loose insulation that can be blown into place.

There are lots of naturally occurring glassy materials. Obsidian is volcanic glass, formed when the intense heat of a volcano fuses sand. When lightning strikes a mass of sand, it can form a glass called fulgarite. Tektites are a form of glass formed from rocks when meteors strike the earth.


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Did you know?...

  • Historians believe Syrian merchants first discovered glass around 5000 B.C.
  • The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that Ethiopians in the 5th century B.C. embalmed their dead and laid them in glass sarcophagi.
  • The Egyptian pharoah Tuthmosis III (1539-1069 B.C.) founded the first glass center in Egypt.
  • More information on this story

    Martha J. Heil
    mheil@aip.org
    American Institute of Physics
    Tel: 301-209-3088


© 2008 American Institute of Physics