Glass Ceramic Substrate with Tetragonal Lightweight Structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lightweight structures for substrates used in astronomy and other applications face challenges in achieving significant weight reduction while maintaining mechanical stability, often requiring additional components and materials with different thermal expansion coefficients, which can lead to local stresses and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A monolithic substrate with a tetragonal or four-corner-shaped lightweight structure on its rear face, utilizing materials with very low thermal expansion coefficients, such as glass ceramics, and featuring recesses and bearing points to achieve high rigidity and weight reduction, eliminating the need for additional support components and adhesives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a monolithic substrate with significant volume is used to ensure high rigidity and low thermal expansion, then mechanical stability and low deformation are achieved, but the weight becomes excessively high
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is segmented into a lightweight structure with recesses and webs on the rear face, dividing the monolithic volume into functional segments that maintain rigidity while reducing weight by more than 50%
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the substrate are given different properties: the front face maintains full thickness for optical stability, while the rear face features localized recesses and web structures that reduce weight but preserve mechanical strength through strategic material distribution
2Weight of moving object
If additional support components and adhesives are used to create lightweight structures, then weight reduction is achieved, but the complexity of the structure increases and local stresses occur due to different thermal expansion coefficients
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is maintained as a single monolithic piece with the lightweight structure integrated directly into the material, eliminating the need for separate support components and adhesives, thus reducing structural complexity and avoiding thermal expansion mismatches
Solution Approach 2:
The entire substrate including the lightweight structure is made from the same glass or glass ceramic material with uniform thermal expansion properties, eliminating local stresses that would arise from joining dissimilar materials
3Weight of moving object
If the substrate volume is reduced to achieve weight reduction, then weight and transport complexity are reduced, but the mechanical stability and rigidity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The recesses on the rear face are designed with curved surfaces and rounded transitions rather than sharp angles, creating a tetragonal or four-corner-shaped lightweight structure that distributes mechanical loads more effectively and maintains structural integrity under dynamic and static conditions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves a weight reduction of over 70% while maintaining high mechanical stability under static and dynamic loads, reducing deformation and deflection, and eliminating the need for additional components and materials, making it suitable for both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial applications.
Implementation Method 1
the substrate can comprise glass or glass ceramics, and, in the case of glass ceramics, can comprise so-called zero-expansion materials which are characterized by an extremely low thermal expansion coefficient
Data Source
AI summary
A monolithic substrate of glass or glass ceramics and methods for manufacturing are provided, where the substrate has a lightweight structure. The lightweight structure includes recesses that are delimited by webs, such webs forming tetragonal or four-corner-shaped pockets. Due to the lightweight structure, the weight of the substrate can be significantly reduced, and at the same time a high rigidity can be ensured. The substrate can be used as a mirror support or a mirror and can be employed terrestrially and/or extra-terrestrially.