Case Study: Hybrid 850ml Stainless Steel & Borosilicate Glass Flask 🎯 The Challenge Most thermal...Case Study: Hybrid 850ml Stainless Steel & Borosilicate Glass Flask 🎯 The Challenge Most thermal...
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Back to feedPost
Chimwemwe's avatar
Chimwemwe Chenjelani
• Aug 7
Case Study: Hybrid 850ml Stainless Steel & Borosilicate Glass Flask
🎯 The Challenge
Most thermal liquid flasks on the market rely on monolithic, opaque stainless steel designs. While durable, they create a poor user experience: users cannot verify the remaining volume, cleanliness, or fluid type without opening the vessel. Traditional glass bottles solve the visibility issue but fail dramatically in drop durability and thermal insulation.
💡 The Solution & Engineering Choices
This design bridges the gap by creating a hybrid mechanical structure that offers structural protection, high fluid visibility, and modern aesthetics.
Dual-Material Visibility Window: Integrated dual side panels made of borosilicate glass into a structural stainless steel exoskeleton body. Borosilicate was explicitly selected for its low coefficient of thermal expansion, ensuring the glass panels will not crack when filled with boiling liquids.
Optimized Mass Distribution: Modeled to hold a high-capacity 850ml volume while maintaining a lightweight empty profile of just 397g (verified via volumetric mass calculations). This ensures it remains highly portable for daily commuting.
Hygiene-First Sealing Lid: Designed a multi-material composite screw cap. The exterior utilizes a high-grip silicone sleeve for ergonomics, while the inner core is engineered from pure food-grade stainless steel to ensure hot liquids never make contact with plastics or polymers.
🛠️ Technical Workflow
Parametric CAD (FreeCAD): Modeled the complex interlocking mating features where the borosilicate glass panels seal against the stainless steel housing.
Visual Prototyping (Blender): Developed custom material nodes to accurately simulate the refraction of light through the glass panels and the anisotropic metallic sheen of the steel exterior housing.
Industrial DesignFreeCADBlenderindustrialdesign3D Modeling3D Rendering
Post image
Post image
Post image
Post image
Back to feed
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started