Recently, China FAW Group (FAW), together with domestic research institutes and industry partners, completed the world's first trial production of a large-size curved prototype of high-safety, ultra-thin and ultra-light "automotive transparent ceramic composite glass". The achievement marks a major breakthrough for China in high-safety transparent materials.

Transparent ceramics are produced by precision sintering of high-purity raw materials, featuring ceramic hardness and glass transparency. They are four times as hard as ordinary glass, enable substantial reductions in thickness and weight, and represent an emerging route toward high-safety glass. However, making large curved transparent ceramics is a worldwide challenge. As the size increases, maintaining consistent shrinkage becomes difficult. The thermal field over a curved part must be extremely uniform, and even minute defects can degrade optical performance.

FAW and its partners developed a domestically sourced YAG powder selection strategy, established a forming method for defect-free, high-density green bodies, and devised a sintering process using curved setters with controlled thermal field uniformity. This manufacturing process yielded curved transparent ceramics with a radius of curvature under 3,000 mm and a size exceeding 800 mm. They also developed high-precision glass hot-bending and composite processes that effectively suppress optical distortion and secondary image separation. Under the same safety requirements, the prototype is 50% thinner and 40% lighter than overseas products, offering a lighter, safer and more reliable driving experience.

In the future, Jilin Province will accelerate technological research and the commercialization of sci-tech achievements, aiming to set the benchmark for next-generation automotive high-safety transparent materials with Chinese materials, processes and solutions.

Source: Jilin Release  Editor: Liu Jiadi