Nd2O3 doped low silica calcium aluminosilicate glasses: Thermomechanical properties

The effects of Nd2O3 doping on the thermal and mechanical properties of vac uum melted, low silica, calcium aluminosilicate glasses are presented. For the doped glasses, the vitrification limit was found to correspond to a max imum load of 5 wt % Nd2O3. The influence of the rare earth doping on the th ermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, and Vickers hardness was such that all these physical parameters decreased by roughly the same amount, namely 8%, between the undoped and the 5 wt % doped sample. The dependence of the se parameters, as a function of the Nd2O3 doping, strongly supports the ide a that the Nd3+ act as network modifiers. (C) 1999 American Institute of Ph ysics. [S0021-8979(99)04705-2].