PLEXIGLAS® over the Clouds

A plane approaches Berlin's Tegel Airport. It’s hard to resist peeking out the window. A sea of houses sweeps past, while in the distance the silver globe of the television tower sparkles in the sunlight. This bird's eye view of the world is possible - and can be enjoyed safely - thanks to PLEXIGLAS®, the dependable material of which the cabin windows are made.

Safety at an altitude of 10,000 meters

It's thanks to the extraordinary durability of PLEXIGLAS® that flights at altitudes of 10,000 meters are at all conceivable. The breakproof plastic holds up magnificently against inside cabin pressure, double-digit subzero temperatures outside, and harsh UV radiation relentlessly bombarding the cabin windows. And PLEXIGLAS® offers the further advantage of protecting passengers behind the window pane from this kind of radiation. The windows filter out the aggressive radiation while letting in the warming sunlight.

PLEXIGLAS® takes off

Very soon after the invention of PLEXIGLAS® 75 years ago, it was recognized that this lightweight and transparent plastic was an ideal material for aircraft construction. Although aviation was still in its infancy, PLEXIGLAS® soon replaced the mineral glass that was then predominantly used. Engineers and pilots alike enthused over the elegant and streamlined cockpits allowing unprecedented all-round visibility. The growing numbers of passengers also benefited from the novel material. And little has changed in the intervening years. Today, the material remains the plastic of choice in the aviation industry. The majority of all Airbus jets have cabin windows made of PLEXIGLAS® from Evonik.

PLEXIGLAS® makes for mobility

PLEXIGLAS® gives a big boost to mobility - and not only in air transport. Ever since the 1950s, PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds have been cornering the taillight market in the automotive industry. At about the same time, the first glazing applications were also being tested, as in the legendary Messerschmitt cabin scooter that was popular in Germany in the early 1950s.

The globally rising demand for this material has been fueled by new applications in automotive construction. Body parts are increasingly being made from PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate). The first of these was the A-pillar cover of the MINI, which went into serial production at the end of 2001. Today, PLEXIGLAS® and PLEXALLOY® molding compounds are used in standard production by a large number of car makers in more than 30 different models. The trend is toward ever larger components to full roof modules.