For some time, Corning Inc’s so-called Gorilla glass has been featured on smartphones thanks to its damage resistance qualities. But now the scratch-resistant Gorilla glass looks set to enter the automotive arena. In addition to its toughened performance, Gorilla glass is lighter than conventional auto glazing – thereby improving fuel economy – and helps reduce road noise from entering the cabin. To find out more, Matthew Beecham talked with Phill Bell, Product Line Manager, Emerging Innovations Group, Corning Inc.
BMW has been reported as the first customer – to be used in the i8. How do you see the market for Gorilla glazing growing?
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Published reports have said Corning Gorilla Glass will be used in the BMW i8 but we cannot comment on specific companies. With the success of Gorilla Glass in smartphones and electronic devices, Corning has been exploring the possibilities of thin, lightweight Gorilla Glass in a variety of other applications, including automobiles. We are working closely with leading OEMs to understand the benefits of thin, lightweight Corning Gorilla Glass for glazing such as windows and sunroofs. We are still early in this process so it’s too soon to speak to growth expectations, but the context of the opportunity is encouraging.
The total flat glass market for automotive glass is more than five billion square feet. By 2025, approximately 70 percent of new car sales will take place in regions with stringent CO2 regulations. We expect that lightweight glazing will be a useful option for OEMs seeking to meet CO2 regulations while providing the comfort, performance, and handling characteristics that customers expect.
We would imagine that a major obstacle to further automotive applications of Gorilla glass is cost. But alongside BMW, I guess we could expect to see other luxury automakers giving it a try sometime soon?
We can’t comment on specific companies but we are pleased with the positive reaction and pull from automakers for this new technology. You mentioned luxury cars as a likely first-adopter segment. We also see strong interest in sports cars, performance sedans, and electric vehicles, especially in regions where CO2 regulations are most aggressive.
By when do you think we could see it on sidelites or maybe even the windshield?
It is too early to answer that with certainty. Sidelites or sunroofs could be first. Windshields are a likely application, but we’re taking extra time to do our homework on this opening.
I guess cars with Gorilla glass will have lower insurance premiums, i.e. since the glass is so tough that it prevents theft from cars?
That’s probably a question for insurance companies, but we wouldn’t expect a major difference in insurance premiums. Today, laminated glass provides up to ten times the penetration resistance of standard tempered glass according to the Enhanced Protective Glass Automotive Association, so this is already a significant deterrent for theft.
Technology measures to protect the pedestrian have been topical for some time in Europe. Have there been any crash tests done which compare Gorilla glass to conventional laminated or tempered glazing?
We have tested Gorilla Glass laminates for their ability to cushion objects that strike it, which we think is indicative of how the glass should behave in pedestrian testing. While we haven’t done crash testing, we have measured the Head Injury Criterion (HIC), which measures impact deceleration and is broadly used for applications ranging from aircraft interiors to motorcycle helmets. Gorilla Glass laminates have performed very well in these tests, so we would expect performance to be the same as or better than conventional glass for pedestrian safety.
We understand that Gorilla glass reduces road noise. So I guess two pieces of Gorilla glass sandwiching a piece of acoustic PVB must more than double that initial benefit?
That is a misconception. The glazing role in overall acoustics is to reduce sound transmission from nearby sources, and laminates do that better than any monolithic configuration. For Gorilla Glass windows, it is primarily the laminate configuration itself, rather than the glass, that provides most of the acoustic benefit. That said, the acoustic performance of Gorilla Glass laminates is still much better than tempered glass or polycarbonate, particularly where human hearing is most sensitive – say around 3700 Hz. Today automakers face a trade-off: good acoustic performance with laminated glass, or weight reduction with thin tempered glass or polycarbonate. We break that trade-off. Gorilla Glass offers the acoustic capabilities of a laminate with the lightest glazing technology possible.
As we understand it, Corning is also developing its Willow glass as well as an antimicrobial glass that would kill bacterial on impact. Are these projects related in any way to vehicle Gorilla glass?
The remainder of this interview is available on just-auto’s QUBE research service
