Some questions about trasparent aluminum

[someone_else]

In 2005 Air force managed to cook up trasparent aluminum armor.
It is more a composite, with glass, trasparent ceramics (where the aluminum is) and polymer layers, but it's the aluminum that gives it the edge.

Stops .50 AP rounds, just in case you were wondering.
a simple article about it

What I wanted to know is:

Did Star Trek creators know about this (or some project aimed at it, or some speculation about it) when the series was created?
(or when they mentioned the trasparent aluminum in that Trek movie about whales and time travel)

This is all about reality and real materials, so I thought this was the right section.
Feel free to move it if otherwise.

[Isolder74]

Probably not. The formula that Scotty seems to put on the computer in the movie appears to be some kind of metallic alloy. It isn't shown long enough to really tell and even pausing the movie doesn't let you see how it really works.

More likely the Engineer designing this product just named it after the Transparent Aluminum from Star Trek. Never underestimate the power of geekitude!

[sciguy]

From the article:

The resulting rigid crystalline structure of the molecules provides a level of strength and scratch resistance that's comparable to rugged sapphire.

That's because it is sapphire.

Edit:At least, that's what it sounds like from the info in the article. Sapphire is aluminum oxide.

[Sea Skimmer]

Did Star Trek creators know about this (or some project aimed at it, or some speculation about it) when the series was created?
(or when they mentioned the trasparent aluminum in that Trek movie about whales and time travel)

Yeah they did, the movie in which it is mentioned came out around the same time the material was first being proposed.

[Spectre_nz]

That's because it is sapphire.

Edit:At least, that's what it sounds like from the info in the article. Sapphire is aluminum oxide.

They're slightly different.

Sapphires and rubies (ie, corundum) are just AlO3 with minor impurities.

This AION stuff is Aluminium oxynitride; there's some nitrogen in there. Wiki gives its formula is (AlN)x.(AlO3)1-x, so it sounds like they're sintering corundum along with Aluminium nitride to give this material. Exactly what the benefits this stuff has over synthetic sapphire I don't know, it may be a material property that's not immediately obvious or something to do with ease of manufacture.

Synthetic sapphire is transparent and used for small armoured windows on sensors and the scratch resistant faceplates of watches, so it’s not like the problem was they couldn't make synthetic sapphire. Maybe they just couldn't make it big enough. Or couldn't laminate it to regular glass very well.

[someone_else]

The formula that Scotty seems to put on the computer in the movie appears to be some kind of metallic alloy.

that may be the "trasparent ceramics where te alluminium is" that is the stuff of the layer giving it the edge over more common bulletproof glass composed of glass (duh) and polymer sheets. They don't tell how to actually build it, so it may be ok.

Yeah they did, the movie in which it is mentioned came out around the same time the material was first being proposed.

Anything that could be used to prove the claim in, huh, "more hostile environments"? Or just your memory?

[Broomstick]

That's because it is sapphire.

Edit:At least, that's what it sounds like from the info in the article. Sapphire is aluminum oxide.

They're slightly different.

Sapphires and rubies (ie, corundum) are just AlO3 with minor impurities.

This AION stuff is Aluminium oxynitride; there's some nitrogen in there. Wiki gives its formula is (AlN)x.(AlO3)1-x, so it sounds like they're sintering corundum along with Aluminium nitride to give this material. Exactly what the benefits this stuff has over synthetic sapphire I don't know, it may be a material property that's not immediately obvious or something to do with ease of manufacture.

Sapphire (and rubies, both of which are actually Al2O3, not AlO3 if I have my information correct) is a crystalline solid and thus will fracture easily along certain angles called cleavage planes. So, very, very hard and durable unless you hit it just right and it shatters. If transparent aluminum armor doesn't have natural cleavage planes then that might be an area where it is superior in performance on the battlefield to pure sapphire.

I also found several statements on line that, while expensive, this material is cheaper to produce than synthetic sapphire. That will also have a significant impact on where and when and how much is used.

Synthetic sapphire is transparent and used for small armoured windows on sensors and the scratch resistant faceplates of watches, so it’s not like the problem was they couldn't make synthetic sapphire. Maybe they just couldn't make it big enough. Or couldn't laminate it to regular glass very well.

Synthetic sapphire of high enough quality to be transparent is expensive to produce in quantity. Non-transparent, impure sapphire, on the other hand, is relatively cheap, which is why it's the most common variety of grit found in sandpaper these days.

As for timing - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released in 1986. This stuff apparently achieved viability in 2005. It's entirely possible some geek when home from the movie and though "Hey, I bet I could actually make this stuff..." or the new product was name for the stuff in the movie. Or even that Roddenberry or someone on staff new of someone trying to develop this stuff. Would be interesting to have a definitive answer.

[Spectre_nz]

Sapphire (and rubies, both of which are actually Al2O3, not AlO3 if I have my information correct)

Bah!
Yes, you're right. I skipped the 2. Twice in fact.
That will teach me for not adding up charge.
I've also just noticed there are vB tags for sub and super script...

is a crystalline solid and thus will fracture easily along certain angles called cleavage planes. So, very, very hard and durable unless you hit it just right and it shatters. If transparent aluminum armor doesn't have natural cleavage planes then that might be an area where it is superior in performance on the battlefield to pure sapphire.

Ahh, so that is what's going on? I had a think about it last night and I could imagine a pane of Sapphire fracturing across its entire width under a strong enough impact. I couldn't see any reason to try and make sapphire harder so guessed that they'd be reducing its stiffness so it would flake or craze around the area of impact. Still, unqualified guess and a few bucks gets you a coffee and all that.

As for timing - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released in 1986. This stuff apparently achieved viability in 2005. It's entirely possible some geek when home from the movie and though "Hey, I bet I could actually make this stuff..." or the new product was name for the stuff in the movie. Or even that Roddenberry or someone on staff new of someone trying to develop this stuff. Would be interesting to have a definitive answer.

The fact that sapphire/alumina contains aluminium and can be transparent was known - I don't think it’s a stretch to see some people imagining you could get aluminium to behave like some kind of super-glass-metal hybrid. Or maybe because it was called alumina they mistook it for meaning it already was an aluminium metal alloy and if you did special stuffTM to it it'd be transparent.
Sci-fi has made some good guesses before; H.G. Wells and his heat rays springs to mind.