| abstract |
A method of strengthening materials such as glass, plastic and ceramics enabling strengths to be achieved which are far in excess of what was previously known. Generally, the method comprises the placement of elongated reinforcement members (32, 34) in a molten glass substrate (30, 36, 46, 48) then cooling the substrate to the solid state. The reinforcement members may be pre-stressed in some instances and may assume a variety of arrangements within the glass substrate. The reinforcement members may be of various materials having greater tensile strength than the glass substrate. In one instance, the reinforcement members themselves may be fiber optic bundles composed of glass fibers with an outer glass cladding which melts at lower temperatures than the inner regions. The temperature is raised sufficiently to melt the cladding so as to bond together all of the bundles into an integral structure of optical quality. In another application of non-optical quality, the core may be metallic with an outer glass cladding which melts at a lower temperature than the inner regions. According to yet another embodiment, strengthened plastic members utilizing elongated reinforcing members in a plastic matrix can have an optical quality reflective surface applied by replication. |