Corelle, melamine, or something else?

[dfelsent]

I’ve got corelle. And melamine. And glass tumblers and wine glasses. And a very few crystal glasses for wine or scotch. And ceramic coffee mugs. And plastic cups too.
It’s all condition dependent.
Condition defined as weather and guests. At anchor there are guests who only get plastic. Others get glass or ceramic underway.
Wine quality matters too.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Corelle confirms the 3 layer laminate:

Nothing about differing thermal coefficients. Any tempered glass is internally-stressed, and this is why tempered panes shatter into glass pebbles. Corelle dishes do not shatter into uniform "pebbles"; they shatter much as any glass piece would into non-uniform pieces. The claim that a piece shattered into sand is, in a word - unbelievable.

We really didn't need the same youtube video posted 3 times, did we? I'm sure if you look around on youtube you'll find some of corelle being broken. If you can find one of a piece "exploding" or turning into pieces no bigger than a grain of sugar, please post it.

On the Correlle debate I would assume there is some tension created between the laminates similar to a Prince Ruperts drop in that there is some sort of surface tension causing them to disintegrate although less than a PR drop.

As for dishes we don’t use a microwave on board and for the breakage reasons and the noise (correlle rattles unless you put something between dishes) we no longer use Correlle on board. If you look a little bit you can find amazing patterns for melamine and you can’t tell they’re not ceramic or stoneware until you pick them up. We still use stoneware mugs for dock and anchor, insulated travel mugs for travelling, stainless/polycarbonate or some other plastic for wine, rocks glasses etc. We went with something similar to these https://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/pr...re-collection/
I would t say they’re the ‘camping’ look you’d normally think of when you say melamine.

[gholmes]

Our (previous) boat came with a set of durable fluorosilicate China from Table Charm/ Royal Prestige. We found it very durable, almost non-breakable but looked and felt like proper china.

Also had durable glassware from same co. that also was much more robust than regular glasses.

We will look for this again on our new boat.

[wsmurdoch]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Nothing about differing thermal coefficients.

I guess you missed the text in the link I posted. Here is the paragraph of interest...

Corelle dishes are made of Vitrelle, a glass laminate of three thermally-bonded glass layers. According to the Corelle Corner, a website dedicated to enthusiasm in all things Corelle, “the two kinds of glass possess different coefficients of thermal expansion. This mismatch means that the outer two layers are in compression (pushing) and the core layer is in a state of tension (pulling), with the stresses delicately balanced with each other. This enables a glass-laminate to resist damage from impacts that might break ordinary glass of a similar thickness.”

[Chotu]

Which begs the question: Why can’t we buy a clear Vitrelle pane of glass for our boat windows???

Corning is leaving a lot of cash on the table.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by wsmurdoch

I guess you missed the text in the link I posted.

I didn't miss that, but didn't give it much weight - it's a fan-site that apparently concentrates on patterns. The quoted bit is apocryphal. The blurb I posted about it being a coloured layer between two clear layers is directly from Corelle's website.

[wsmurdoch]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

I didn't miss that, but didn't give it much weight - it's a fan-site that apparently concentrates on patterns. The quoted bit is apocryphal. The blurb I posted about it being a coloured layer between two clear layers is directly from Corelle's website.

From US Patent 5559060, application filed by Corning Inc. ...

Corning Incorporated, Corning, N.Y. has marketed tableware products under the trademark CORELLE® for over 20 years. The ware consists of a laminate composed of a relatively thick interior body (the core glass) enveloped within a thin surface layer (the skin glass). The ware is manufactured by means of a continuous hot forming process wherein glass batches are melted for the individual laminae and streams of the molten glasses are brought together such that laminae are essentially simultaneously fused together and shaped into a desired configuration. The individual layers are prepared from compositions exhibiting different thermal expansion and viscosity characteristics such that, upon cooling, the surface layer is placed in a state of compression and the interior body is placed in a state of tension.

[Lodesman]

Good find. Had me looking for the patent: https://patentimages.storage.googlea.../US5559060.pdf
Intriguing how the thickness of the different layers has profoundly differing effects on the toughness and frangibility of the dish. Perhaps some designs or production runs were poorly "mismatched" leading to excessive frangibility.
Curious the patent is dated in 1996, yet Corelle has been around since about 1970 - did it take that long for the patent to go through, or have they changed the material/process?

Originally Posted by wsmurdoch

The individual layers are prepared from compositions exhibiting different thermal expansion and viscosity characteristics such that, upon cooling, the surface layer is placed in a state of compression and the interior body is placed in a state of tension.

I think you will agree that the bolded characteristic is also true of monolithic tempered glass - this stops crack propagation and gives the tempered glass its strength. I'm guessing that the mismatch of thermal expansion is to maintain this characteristic after annealing - the patent explains that the Corelle pieces are annealed. I suppose that might explain why Corelle does not shatter into uniform pebbles. I say might, because my French Duralex tempered stemware breaks like Corelle, but afaik it's not made of a laminate. Know where to find French patents?

[wsmurdoch]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Curious the patent is dated in 1996, yet Corelle has been around since about 1970 - did it take that long for the patent to go through, or have they changed the material/process?

The earliest patent I found is US 3,737,294 (June 5, 1973).

Bill

[roverhi]

We took stoneware and corelle with us on our cruise in the '70s. Used the Corelle almost exclusively. Only managed to break one corelle bowl when I dropped a large hammer on it. When we moved ashore and sold the boat took the Corelle with us and left the stoneware on the boat. Have been using that Corelle ever since with no other breakage problem. Keep the China plates for special occasions but the Corelle gets used 99% of the time. Only complaint for boat use it is doesn't have a sticky bottom so can slide around.

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

What a load of tosh. Corelle is glass - laminated tempered glass.

Google Prince Rupert drops for explanation.

[Adiona]

Underway we use Rubbermaid storage containers, not the take along ones. Fill with sandwich, grapes, snacks, cheese, etc. can be sealed tightly on a moments notice and thrown aside in an emergency. They store stacked together.
I use good melamine with a bead of silicone around bottom, and paper plates or bowls too

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

Google Prince Rupert drops for explanation.

They were discussed earlier; the discussion has gone well past that, and has frankly run its course. Do keep up.

[Juggerknot]

I'm a big fan of Corelle and for the most part, it's reasonably indestructible. I did however buy some chinese knock-off Corelle in Costa Rica that reminded me of Ralph Nader, "unsafe at any speed"! If you looked at this crap wrong it went off, just horrible. Next time I'm stateside I'll be looking for some vintage pieces online, seems it was tougher than the last real Corelle I had and it's cheap. Fair winds

[Amapola]

I like my Corelle because it is durable and takes up less space. I'm not a fan of Melamine/plastic ware.