Frame material is quite critical that it should be carefully considered by every customer while shopping for eyeglasses, sunglasses or protective glasses. Prescription eyeglasses, UV sunglasses and safety goggles are generally for different purposes and vary in frame and lens designs. For instance, these different eyewear types may use regularly different lens and frame materials since related customers have specific requirements. Protective goggles do have particular requirements on frame material that regular plastics are seldom utilized. Compared with regular prescription eyeglasses used in an indoor environment, UV sunglasses also impose their own requirement on this factor. A phenomenon that proves this extra requirement is that metal sunglasses are more popularly seen than plastic sunglasses. There are some brands that exclusively use metal frames in producing sunglasses, such as Ray Ban Aviator.
The superiority of metal frames over plastic frames is rooted that sunglasses usually have large lenses which require a strong frame. Making a comparison between regular metals and plastics, sunwear designers and manufacturers may naturally find that the first group features better strength. This briefly explains that leading role gained by metal sunglasses in the current market. Metals like titanium, beryllium, stainless steel, Flexon and aluminum all have the property of strength, thus being able to hold the large sunglass lenses in place. In contrast, plastics ranging from cellulose acetate, zylonite to propionate can hardly be strong. This is the biggest shortcoming that prevents plastics from being widely applied in the sunwear industry.
Metal sunglasses can benefit from several advanced materials which feature strength and other advantages. Stainless steel is an alloy that is hypoallergenic, lightweight and strong. In particular, this material used in sunglass frames can be corrosion-resistant. This attribute is unparalleled by other materials. Titanium is also a good material for sunwear frames. It has similar features to stainless steel. The popularity of memory metal can not be overstated. In fact, both eyeglass and sunglass frames take use of this new form of metal widely. The extreme flexibility offered by memory metal is incomparable by other metals.