Origin of Inhomogeneity in Glass Melts

The homogeneity of a glass plays a crucial role in many applications as the inhomogeneities can provide local changes in mechanical properties, optical properties, and thermal expansion coefficient. Homogeneity is not a single property of the glass, instead, it consists of several factors such as bubbles, striae, trace element concentration, undissolved species, and crystallised species. As it is not possible to address all the factors in a single study, this work focuses on one of the major factors: chemical striae. Up to now, the quantification of chemical striae in glasses, particularly, in less transparent glasses, has been a challenge due to the lack of an applicable method. In this study, we have established a simple and accurate method for quantifying the extent of the striae, which is based on the scanning and picture processing through the Fourier transformation. By performing systematic variations of the melting conditions of iron bearing silicate melts, we identify the influence of melting duration, melting temperature, and size of raw materials on the homogeneity. Finally, we attempt to reveal the origin of chemical inhomogeneities of the glass melts in question.