THE FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC ADO – EKITI

DEPARTMENT OF GLASS AND CERAMC TECHNOLOGY

AN ASSIGNMENT ON

GCT 223

GLASS WORKSHOP AND TECHNICS

QUESTION

WRITE OUT THE ANNEALING TEMPERATURE OF GLASS RAW

DONE BY

ANYANWU CHINASA FUNMILAYO

FPA/GC/20/1-0009

ND 2

SUBMITTED TO

MRS ELESHO
Annealing is a process of slowly cooling hot glass objects after they have been formed, to
relieve residual internal stresses introduced during manufacture. Especially for smaller, simpler
objects, annealing may be incidental to the process of manufacture, but in larger or more
complex products it commonly demands a special process of annealing in a temperature-
controlled kiln known as a lehr. Annealing of glass is critical to its durability. Glass that has not
been properly annealed retains thermal stresses caused by quenching, which will indefinitely
decrease the strength and reliability of the product. Inadequately annealed glass is likely to crack
or shatter when subjected to relatively small temperature changes or to mechanical shock or
stress. It even may fail spontaneously.

To anneal glass, it is necessary to heat it to its annealing temperature, at which its viscosity, η,
drops to 1013 Poise (1013 dyne-second/cm²). For most kinds of glass, this annealing temperature is
in the range of 454–482 °C (850–900 °F)[citation needed], and is the so-called stress-relief point or
annealing point of the glass. At such a viscosity, the glass is still too hard for significant
external deformation without breaking, but it is soft enough to relax internal strains by
microscopic flow in response to the intense stresses they introduce internally. The piece then
heat-soaks until its temperature is even throughout and the stress relaxation is adequate. The time
necessary for this step varies depending on the type of glass and its maximum thickness. The
glass then is permitted to cool at a predetermined rate until its temperature passes the strain
point (η = 1014.5 Poise)[citation needed], below which even microscopic internal flow effectively stops
and annealing stops with it. It then is safe to cool the product to room temperature at a rate
limited by the heat capacity, thickness, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion coefficient
of the glass. After annealing is complete the material can be cut to size, drilled, or polished
without risk of its internal stresses shattering it.

At the annealing point (η = 1013 Poise), stresses relax within several minutes, while at the strain
point (η = 1014.5 Poise) stresses relax within several hours.[3] Stresses acquired at temperatures
above the strain point, and not relaxed by annealing, remain in the glass indefinitely and may
cause either short-term or much delayed failure. Stresses resulting from cooling too rapidly
below the strain point largely are considered temporary, although they may be sufficient to cause
short-term failure.
The Annealing Point and Heat Soaking

Annealing glass to its perfect stress relief point is called the “annealing point.” Reaching the
annealing point is a delicate process and requires diligence because the ideal annealing
temperature must be reached, and then the piece has to be heat-soaked until it has an even
internal temperature.

When the glass has reached the correct temperature range, it is still hard enough to avoid external
damage without breaking, but it has softened enough to relax the internal strains. When the glass
is being heat-soaked, it is reaching an even temperature throughout, making the stress relaxation
adequate. Usually, the time frame for heat-soaking varies depending on the thickness and type of
glass.

Controlled Cooling of the Glass

While strengthening the glass and relieving the stress is important, the controlled cooling, which
happens once the soak time is completed, is just as important. The manufacturers of the raw
material provide annealing schedules. ULC adheres strictly to these cool-down cycles with our
precision temperature controllers, thus producing an ideal annealed glass at the customer’s
request.

We then test the material’s Nd (index of refraction) and Vd (Abbe) values. Once our technicians
have verified that the Nd and Vd values have been met using a refractometer in our laboratory,
the glass is ready for the customer’s use.

Raw materials used in production of glass

Silica (sand),

Soda ash (sodium carbonate),

Limestone (calcium)
Silicon dioxide,

Calcium oxide

Aluminia

Iron oxide

Lime

Magnesia

Feldspar

Annealing temperature of raw material used in production of glass

Aluminium oxide
The film annealed at 1100 ◦C exhibits the best film quality compared with those of the films
grown and annealed at other temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy measurements
also imply the best surface morphology for the γ-Al2O3 film annealed at 1100 ◦C, which is in
good accordance with the structural analyses.

Silica

Silica (structure shown in the top figure below) has a melting temperature of 1700 °C. This is
considerably higher than temperatures that are possible with charcoal and a blow pipe (800 -
1200 °C). But adding sodium changes things drastically. Sodium bonds to only one Si atom, so it
breaks the ordered network of silica (see lower figure below). This results in a shortening of
bond lengths which reduces the melting temperature to around 1000 °C, which is possible to
reach with charcoal and a blow pipe. The effect of adding sodium to silica to lower the melting
temperature appears to have been discovered around 1,500 BCE.

FERRIC OXIDE
Ferric oxide (Fe2O3) was synthesized at different temperatures (TS) between 300 and 500 °C by
spray pyrolysis technique. Surface of annealed Fe2O3 nanostructure was characterized by field
emission scanning electron microscopic (FESEM). Annealed Fe2O3 nanostructure has showed
rhombohedral hexagonal structure with the preferred orientation along (104) plane in X-ray
diffraction patterns (XRD). Crystallite size was increased from 43 to 63 nm with increasing of TS
between 300 and 500 °C. The maximum transmittance was found to be 72% for Fe 2O3
nanostructure at TS = 300 °C. The energy gap for direct band transitions was measured to be
2.05–2.09 eV. Refractive index of Fe2O3 nanostructure in the visible region was found in the
range of 2.37–2.62. Fe2O3 nanostructure has showed n-type electrical conductivity and electrical
resistivity was found in the range of 1.02 × 103–6.23 × 103 Ω m. Formation of transparent Fe2O3
nanostructure with band gap and high refractive index suggests the suitability of Fe 2O3
nanostructure in gas sensors.

Limestone

Limestone is a common sedimentary rock composed primarily of the mineral calcite (CaCO 3 ).
Though it is generally used in building industry, it has found little use in the technological
industry in the form of CaCO 3 nanoparticles. Few works abound on the optical properties of
Calcium Carbonate, and they do not extensively cover the optical properties in the IR-VIS-UV
electromagnetic spectrum range. This dearth of information over the whole electromagnetic
spectrum for Calcium Carbonate makes this research pertinent. Limestone (calcium carbonate)
from Obajana, Kogi State were collected and grounded into powdery form. A portion of the
powder was then placed on substrates and annealed at various temperature ranging from 50 to
500oC while the rest served as the unannealed sample. The annealed and unannealed samples
were irradiated in the range of 300 nm to 1100 nm in UV-Vis Spectrophotometer.

Magnesium

Annealing can be used for both heat-treatable and non-heat-treatable alloys to increase ductility
with a slight reduction in strength. A typical annealing cycle for wrought magnesium alloys is to
heat them to 550-850°F (290-455°C) for at least one hour. Since most forming operations are
done at elevated temperature, most wrought material is already fully annealed.
Feldspar

Annealing experiment: After cleaning and drying the exchanged feldspar fragments were loaded
into quartz glass tubes again, now without the addition of salt, and the glass vials were sealed
shut under vacuum. The samples were then annealed at 550 ∘ C for 4, 8, and 16 days

Sodium carbonate

About 45% of world production of sodium carbonate is used in the glass industry. Using this
material in glass making reduces the glass formation temperature from 1700 to 1450-1500 ° C
which in turn saves energy and reduces the life of the refractory.

Sodium carbonate accounts for less than 20% of the volume of all lime glass but costs 60% of
the cost, such as flat glass, window glass and glass containers.

Other types of glass can use less sodium carbonate because they require less amount of sodium.
Such as borosilicate glass, pyrex, fiberglass, flat glass containers, laboratory supplies, TV glass,
monitors and more.