Progress and Perspective of Processing Glass Forming Melts in Low Gravity
Abstract
A review of the results from previous low-gravity experiments conducted on glass-forming melts is presented with particular emphasis on nucleation, crystallization, glass formation, and chemical homogeneity for high-temperature melts in low gravity. a review of this kind is important for 1) understanding the kinetics of glass formation (conversely, nucleation and crystallization) and the mechanism(s) of homogenization of high-temperature melts in low gravity, 2) avoiding duplication in future low-gravity experiments, and 3) properly utilizing low-gravity conditions for improving present-day glass processing techniques and, hence, the quality of glasses on Earth. It is consistently observed that glasses prepared in low gravity are more chemically homogeneous and more resistant to crystallization than those of the comparable glasses prepared on Earth, which is somewhat surprising. a hypothesis based on "shear thinning" of a melt is proposed as an explanation for these low-gravity results. a scheduled flight experiment, whose purpose is to acquire data on nucleation and crystal growth kinetics for Li2O.2SiO2 glass prepared in low gravity, is discussed.
Recommended Citation
C. S. Ray and D. E. Day, "Progress and Perspective of Processing Glass Forming Melts in Low Gravity," Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 174 - 181, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Jan 2003.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.2514/2.6773
Department(s)
Materials Science and Engineering
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1533-6808; 0887-8722
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2003
