MythBusters explain the science behind Corning's new shatter-resistant Gorilla Glass 4

Posted:
in General Discussion edited November 2014
Discovery Channel's Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage walked through some of the advances made by manufacturer Corning in the latest version of its popular Gorilla Glass line used in Apple's iPhone.




The "MythBusters" duo begins by demonstrating the difference between the display covers found on devices in 2008 and those today, scratching an older model before shattering it with a simulated 1-meter drop. A newer phone, which appears to be a Moto X, survives the same tests without a scratch.

This is chalked up to Gorilla Glass's compressive strength, which refers to the combination of force between the glass's outer and inner layers. They then show how Corning's "ion exchange" process creates glass with a specific amount of compressive strength by replacing smaller ions with larger ones, "tuning" the balance between compression and tension in the glass.



Corning does envision other uses for its strengthened glass, beyond portable devices. The famous MythBusters break out an air cannon to show how a Gorilla Glass windshield holds up to a simulated pebble strike; the Gorilla Glass version, while thinner, fails much less spectacularly than its traditional counterpart.

Apple's iPhone and iPad have had Gorilla Glass display covers since their first editions, though near-constant rumors have suggested that they may switch to sapphire displays. That seemed more likely following reports of Apple's tie-up with GT Advanced Technologies, a partnership that eventually failed and resulted in GT Advanced's filing for bankruptcy.

Sapphire is used on on the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition, though the Apple Watch Sport is thought to use flexible Gorilla Glass.

Corning unveiled its new Gorilla Glass 4 last week, boasting that it is up to two times harder than competing glasses used in existing smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Gorilla Glass 4 is advertised to survive drops onto rough surfaces up to 80 percent of the time.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member

    Corning unveiled its new Gorilla Glass 4 <a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/11/20/corning-launches-2x-harder-gorilla-glass-4-with-improved-drop-damage-resistance">last week</a>, boasting that it is up to two times harder than competing glasses used in existing smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Gorilla Glass 4 is advertised to survive drops onto rough surfaces up to 80 percent of the time.

    So GG4 isn't in the iPhone6? Or Corning just got arround to announcing it?
  • Reply 2 of 36
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Myth: Shattered.
  • Reply 3 of 36

    Seems funny that sapphire is considered so important for a watch.

     

    In all the decades I've owned a watch, I don't recall ever dropping it.

  • Reply 4 of 36
    It's not about shattering, it's about scratching. The hundreds of times a day that your wrist incidentally comes into contact with other surfaces.
  • Reply 5 of 36
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Sprint3GIssues View Post



    It's not about shattering, it's about scratching. The hundreds of times a day that your wrist incidentally comes into contact with other surfaces.

     

     

    Hundreds of times a day? Hardly. At any rate, my watch still has a scratch-free surface.

  • Reply 6 of 36
    [QUOTE]They then show how Corning's "ion exchange" process creates glass with a specific amount of compressive strength by replacing smaller ions with larger ones, "tuning" the balance between compression and tension in the glass.[/QUOTE]


    You're not going to show squat about a electron exchange coating during dipping of the glass, along the manufacturing assembly process, in a post assembled phone.
  • Reply 7 of 36
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member

    I'd like to see the sledgehammer impact Windshield B. The result isn't pretty or it would probably have been shown. My guess is the entire Gorilla Glass layer shatters and completely obscures the view.

  • Reply 8 of 36
    muppetrymuppetry Posts: 3,331member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post

     
    Quote:

    They then show how Corning's "ion exchange" process creates glass with a specific amount of compressive strength by replacing smaller ions with larger ones, "tuning" the balance between compression and tension in the glass.






    You're not going to show squat about a electron exchange coating during dipping of the glass, along the manufacturing assembly process, in a post assembled phone.

     

    You didn't watch it, did you. They actually give a quite nice demonstration of how the ion exchange process produces toughened glass. It's not a coating, by the way.

  • Reply 9 of 36
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost View Post

     

     

     

    Hundreds of times a day? Hardly. At any rate, my watch still has a scratch-free surface.




    Glad to see you work in a hyperbaric chamber

  • Reply 10 of 36
    joelsalt wrote: »
     


    Hundreds of times a day? Hardly. At any rate, my watch still has a scratch-free surface.


    Glad to see you work in a hyperbaric chamber

    Lol! I love looking up new words.

    I'm sure my watch has some fine scratches, but nothing that detracts from its elegance and readability.
  • Reply 11 of 36
    radarthekatradarthekat Posts: 3,842moderator
    These guys make me smile.
  • Reply 12 of 36
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RadarTheKat View Post



    These guys make me smile.



    They're great but where were they during all that bandgate nonsense? Some much needed science and logic would have gone a long way then.

  • Reply 13 of 36
    kkerstkkerst Posts: 330member

    This almost seems like a commercial for Corning. 

  • Reply 14 of 36
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kkerst View Post

     

    This almost seems like a commercial for Corning. 




    It was a commercial for Corning...or were you kidding? Even though this is a stealth ad for Corning, it's very well done and the MythBusters guys do a good job.

  • Reply 15 of 36
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kkerst View Post

     

    This almost seems like a commercial for Corning.


    Perhaps that's why it starts with "Glass Age, Presented by Corning."  It's an informercial.

  • Reply 16 of 36
    kkerstkkerst Posts: 330member
    Missed it...
  • Reply 17 of 36
    malaxmalax Posts: 1,598member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kkerst View Post



    Missed it...

    No worries.  The original article should have made that clear.  Maybe the author missed it too.

  • Reply 18 of 36
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member

    The most fascinating part of the video was the way the glass glob shattered when the end was cut. I don't care if it was an advertisement, it's a great experiment for students to see how things actually work.

     

     

    One thing I would like to see is the right side of the video stretched a bit since it seems to have been cropped. I really enjoyed the video but would have liked to see the Mythbusters go ahead and actually break the Gorilla-backed glass to see how bullet proof it actually is. I know bullet-proof glass is pretty thick with multiple laminates but wonder how many layers of Gorilla glass they'd need to stop a typical bullet. This could really reduce the weight of bullet-proof cars.

  • Reply 19 of 36
    1) I understand why Corning doesn't mention Apple since Apple doesn't like to advertise their component vendors in their products, but since it's because of Steve Jobs that Corning ever made GG into a viable product so I was half-expecting some mention somewhere.

    2) I wonder what a single layer of GG or two layers of laminated GG would result in? No break? No scratches? That would be nice.

    bageljoey wrote: »
    So GG4 isn't in the iPhone6? Or Corning just got arround to announcing it?

    Apple mentioned their new iPhones now use ion-strengthened glass so I'd assume it is GG4 since they are the company leading that development.

    Seems funny that sapphire is considered so important for a watch.

    In all the decades I've owned a watch, I don't recall ever dropping it.

    Because the only way a watch face could get scratched is if it's dropped. :rolleyes:
  • Reply 20 of 36

    So, Why is the windshield NOT made out of Gorilla Glass inside and out? Oh, I forgot. The Insurance Companies will lose MILLIONS in glass claims.

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