Thermal analysis
Thermal
analysis can be used to determine a number of physical properties
for glass, based on its behaviour as it is heated or cooled. It
is vitally important when solving production problems, troubleshooting,
developing new products or improving existing products. It impacts
on all aspects of glass technology.
When most materials are heated up or cooled down, they expand or
contract.
The amount of expansion or shrinkage is dependent on
the
chemical and physical characteristics of the material itself. It
is often very important to match the thermal expansion behaviour
of
different
materials
which are in contact with one another, in order to avoid unwanted
stresses and possible cracking.
It is equally important to combine measurements of properties with
an understanding of the process itself, expertise which is offered
by GTS.
The usefulness of thermal analysis come from a number of projects
carried out by GTS for commercial customers. These projects have
involved tailoring a glass composition to give specific properties.
Measurement of the Littleton Softening Point and the High Temperature
Viscosity is vital in matching the properties of the glass with
those required by the customer. If the glass is too viscous or too
fluid at a given temperature this can have serious consequences
for the processing of the glass.
Thermal Analysis techniques available from GTS are as follows: (click
on the link to view a datasheet on each topic)
PDF's
Dilatometry
- For thermal expansion, glass transition values
Differential
Thermal Analysis (DTA) - For batch reactions, phase changes, glass
transition values
Littleton
Softening Point - For ASTM standard method C338 and equivalents
Liquidus
Temperature - For crystallisation behaviour of glasses and ceramics
High Temperature
Viscosity - For measurement of the viscosity-temperature curve
High Temperature
Electrical Measurements - For resistivity or conductivity of glasses
at ambient and elevated temperatures
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