Results of an Independent Study on Diamon-Fusion® Treatment
The following are test results from
Dr. William C. LaCourse, Professor of Glass Science at the Institute for Glass Science and Engineering at Alfred University, New York, an independent testing laboratory. Dr. LaCourse is an expert in the study of glass and ceramics. He has done testing for major companies like PPG and Kohler. Below is a summary of the most important findings of his tests.
Contact Angle:
The contact angle is the angle at which a drop of liquid meets a solid surface.
Measuring the contact angle is the scientific method of measuring the water repellency of a surface. The greater the contact angle, the higher the water repellency of the surface.
The Diamon-Fusion® treatment actually changes the molecular composition of the treated surface. When applied to a windshield, the treatment increases the windshield's water repellency for the life of the glass.
|
Contact Angle
| Material |
Contact Angle |
| Untreated Glass |
14° |
| Improved Diamon-Fusion® |
106° |
| Our main competitor |
91° |
|
Coefficient of Friction:
(with Glass indentor wet)
| Material |
µ |
| Untreated Glass |
0.82 |
| Improved Diamon-Fusion® |
0.13 |
|
Load to damage surface:
| Material |
Load (lbs) |
| Untreated Glass |
0.37 |
| Improved Diamon-Fusion® |
4.00 |
|
Coefficient of Friction:
Dr. LaCourse states in his reports that our improved process has a remarkably low coefficient of friction when the glass is wet. He states that when glass is wet, it is by far the "most dangerous period" with regards to the potential for damage. The report says that "we believe that the (main) usefulness of your coating lies in its maintenance of a low friction coating over the life of the glass".
A low coefficient of friction doesn't just help water bead up: treated windshields are less affected by the abrasion caused by windshield wipers, known to scratch dry windshields. Furthermore, wiper motors experience less strain on a treated windshield.
Load required to damage surface:
To make the test results for coefficient of friction useful, we have used a formula that translates the data into the force required to cause damage to the surface. Assume that a load of 10 lbs. has been placed on the rider under static conditions, and that this is the lowest load that caused cracking (no dragging). Using the formula we can now calculate the load that would cause cracking to occur when the rider is dragged across the sample.
Note that when comparing wet vs. wet friction calculations indicate that it would take more than 10 times the load (4.0 lbs. vs. 0.37 lbs.) to cause damage on your treated sample vs. the untreated.
In other words, the weight of a debris particle required to crack a piece of glass that has been treated with Diamon-Fusion® would need to be ten times heavier than the weight required to crack an untreated piece of glass.
