10 ms·

Wow, how do you make pieces of glass that size?

by jl6 4y ago

__alexs 4y ago
I think they are acrylic, not glass.
- MengerSponge 4y ago
  Correct. https://www.bestpub.com/books/product/cid-151.html https://www.bestpub.com/books/product/cid-151.html
rjzzleep 4y ago
It looks to me as if they're actually a lot of smaller pieces put together, but maybe I see it incorrectly. Maybe one day, architects will stop designing things that are structural liabilities, or engineers actually get to say no to it before construction starts.
- mirekrusin 4y ago
  They could make it from concrete.
- ArchitectAnon 4y ago
  Incredibly unlikely for any part of the structure to have been designed by an architect, most likely a highly specialist subcontractor design item. Our insurance would not cover it and it is illegal for architects to practice without insurance in many EU countries. The closest any architect would get to this is to go to a big fish tank company and say I want a big fish tank with diameter x and height y, can you do it and how much will it be...
- jacquesm 4y ago
  I don't understand your comment. Architects did not design this fishtank, engineers did, ones that specialize in such constructions. Whether or not the design was at fault or there were construction or maintenance issues or the tank was modified out-of-spec, whether there was damage due to the recent renovations are all open questions. Structural engineers take their work very seriously, much more seriously than your typical software person and you can bet that any and all lessons learned from this incident will be incorporated into future designs. They don't just slap stuff together for the laughs and call it a day.
imhoguy 4y ago
They should use transparent aluminium https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_materials#Transparent_aluminum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_materials#...
- Reason077 4y ago
  Modern sapphire glass (Al₂O₃) is basically transparent aluminium, and it is very strong. Probably way too expensive to make an aquarium out of it, though!
  - klyrs 4y ago
    This is an amusing line of inquiry. Sapphire is growing in popularity for microchips. I found a source for single-crystal sapphire ingots... they only go up to 8 inches (~20cm) in diameter, about 60mm long. This tank was about 11 meters in diameter, 25m long. Scaling that up would be quite the project. I mean, you could probably do chemical vapor deposition, but it wouldn't be a single crystal so what's the point?
- Cthulhu_ 4y ago
  "list of Star Trek materials"?
  - paradoxyl 4y ago
    Says a guy named "Cthulhu"? Obviously, he is being humorous.
Slartie 4y ago
It was manufactured in 2004 by a US company, "International Concept Management": https://icm-corp.com/ https://icm-corp.com/ (side note: what a weird name for an aquarium manufacturing and design company)
- durnygbur 4y ago
  uuuups... they better lawyer up...
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    That's Germany, not the US.
    - durnygbur 4y ago
      yes they better lawyer up in Germany, correct
      - ArchitectAnon 4y ago
        Not sure about Germany but in the UK the designers would be unlikely to still be liable anymore under the original contract to design this, liability under the contract would be up to 12 years from when the work under the contract was completed. They might be liable in tort for professional negligence but it's much harder to prove that this has occurred especially after 20 years. More likely the company that was under contract to inspect/maintain this will get hammered.
        jacquesm 4y ago
        Or the one that modified it, assuming that's not the one that originally built it.
- Eduard 4y ago
  According to https://www.newlift.de/details-referenzen/aquadom.html https://www.newlift.de/details-referenzen/aquadom.html , several companies were involved. Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc. provided the acrylic windows: https://www.reynoldspolymer.com/projects/aquadom/ https://www.reynoldspolymer.com/projects/aquadom/ . ICM has already removed AquaDom from their portfolio page https://icm-corp.com/portfolio/ https://icm-corp.com/portfolio/ , but a cached version (for now at least) exists at https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XGSNC78RU4oJ:https://icm-corp.com/portfolio/aquadom https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XGSNC7... .

Wow, how do you make pieces of glass that size?

by jl6 4y ago

Wow, how do you make pieces of glass that size?

__alexs 4y ago

I think they are acrylic, not glass.

MengerSponge 4y ago
Correct. https://www.bestpub.com/books/product/cid-151.html https://www.bestpub.com/books/product/cid-151.html

rjzzleep 4y ago

It looks to me as if they're actually a lot of smaller pieces put together, but maybe I see it incorrectly. Maybe one day, architects will stop designing things that are structural liabilities, or engineers actually get to say no to it before construction starts.

mirekrusin 4y ago
They could make it from concrete.
ArchitectAnon 4y ago
Incredibly unlikely for any part of the structure to have been designed by an architect, most likely a highly specialist subcontractor design item. Our insurance would not cover it and it is illegal for architects to practice without insurance in many EU countries. The closest any architect would get to this is to go to a big fish tank company and say I want a big fish tank with diameter x and height y, can you do it and how much will it be...
jacquesm 4y ago
I don't understand your comment. Architects did not design this fishtank, engineers did, ones that specialize in such constructions. Whether or not the design was at fault or there were construction or maintenance issues or the tank was modified out-of-spec, whether there was damage due to the recent renovations are all open questions. Structural engineers take their work very seriously, much more seriously than your typical software person and you can bet that any and all lessons learned from this incident will be incorporated into future designs. They don't just slap stuff together for the laughs and call it a day.

imhoguy 4y ago

They should use transparent aluminium https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_materials#Transparent_aluminum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek_materials#...

Reason077 4y ago
Modern sapphire glass (Al₂O₃) is basically transparent aluminium, and it is very strong. Probably way too expensive to make an aquarium out of it, though!
- klyrs 4y ago
  This is an amusing line of inquiry. Sapphire is growing in popularity for microchips. I found a source for single-crystal sapphire ingots... they only go up to 8 inches (~20cm) in diameter, about 60mm long. This tank was about 11 meters in diameter, 25m long. Scaling that up would be quite the project. I mean, you could probably do chemical vapor deposition, but it wouldn't be a single crystal so what's the point?
Cthulhu_ 4y ago
"list of Star Trek materials"?
- paradoxyl 4y ago
  Says a guy named "Cthulhu"? Obviously, he is being humorous.

Slartie 4y ago

It was manufactured in 2004 by a US company, "International Concept Management": https://icm-corp.com/ https://icm-corp.com/ (side note: what a weird name for an aquarium manufacturing and design company)

durnygbur 4y ago
uuuups... they better lawyer up...
- jacquesm 4y ago
  That's Germany, not the US.
  - durnygbur 4y ago
    yes they better lawyer up in Germany, correct
    - ArchitectAnon 4y ago
      Not sure about Germany but in the UK the designers would be unlikely to still be liable anymore under the original contract to design this, liability under the contract would be up to 12 years from when the work under the contract was completed. They might be liable in tort for professional negligence but it's much harder to prove that this has occurred especially after 20 years. More likely the company that was under contract to inspect/maintain this will get hammered.
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        Or the one that modified it, assuming that's not the one that originally built it.
Eduard 4y ago
According to https://www.newlift.de/details-referenzen/aquadom.html https://www.newlift.de/details-referenzen/aquadom.html , several companies were involved. Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc. provided the acrylic windows: https://www.reynoldspolymer.com/projects/aquadom/ https://www.reynoldspolymer.com/projects/aquadom/ . ICM has already removed AquaDom from their portfolio page https://icm-corp.com/portfolio/ https://icm-corp.com/portfolio/ , but a cached version (for now at least) exists at https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XGSNC78RU4oJ:https://icm-corp.com/portfolio/aquadom https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XGSNC7... .