As glass curtain wall and floor-to-ceiling windows increasingly become staples in today’s built environment, researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory developed a stronger alternative to this popular material, TreeHugger reports.
Called Spinel, a press release from the NRL says it is "actually a mineral, it's magnesium aluminate. The advantage is it's so much tougher, stronger, harder than glass. It provides better protection in more hostile environments—so it can withstand sand and rain erosion."
Dr. Jas Sanghera of NRL describes how it is created: "You put the powder in [a hot press], you press it under vacuum, squash this powder together—and if you can do that right, then you can get rid of all the entrapped air, and all of a sudden it comes out of there clear-looking."
According to Glass Canada, architectural uses for the material include glass balconies and glass that is truly fire-resistant.
Related Stories
Building Materials | Jan 25, 2016
Johnson Controls to merge with Tyco International
The $20 billion deal is the latest corporate inversion maneuver.
Concrete | Jan 15, 2016
Fallingwater to Sydney Opera House: Ranking the world’s best concrete buildings
Large and small, some of the most iconic structures of all time were made of the composite building material.
| Jan 14, 2016
How to succeed with EIFS: exterior insulation and finish systems
This AIA CES Discovery course discusses the six elements of an EIFS wall assembly; common EIFS failures and how to prevent them; and EIFS and sustainability.
Building Materials | Nov 16, 2015
A new database sheds more light on building products’ content
The Quartz Project’s collaborators, which include Google, hope these data will better inform design decisions.
Architects | Oct 20, 2015
Four building material innovations from the Chicago Architecture Biennial
From lightweight wooden pallets to the largest lengths of CLT-slabs that can be shipped across North America
Building Materials | Oct 16, 2015
Challenges in arctic, subarctic regions subject of new ASHRAE guide
Cold, remoteness, limited utilities, and permafrost addressed.
Building Materials | Sep 25, 2015
Dept. of Agriculture encouraging tall wood structure construction
Prize awarded for 10-story or higher wooden buildings
Building Materials | Aug 28, 2015
Structural steel buildings specification available for second public review
Next year's specification open for comments until Sept. 21
Sponsored | Building Materials | Jul 29, 2015
Glulam provides aesthetic, structural, and safety solution for Appleton Mills project
The Appleton Mills complex includes 5 million square feet of space, with an original structure built in the 1870s and another building added in 1906
Sponsored | | Jul 24, 2015
Nature in Design: The Biophilia Effect
The preference for nature has a name: biophilia, which literally means “love of life.”
