Influence of Alumina Content and Modifiers on Phase Separation in Soda-Lime-Silica Glass

The phase Separation behaviour of industrial soda-lime-silica glass is studied by visible light scattering. The main aspects which differentiate industrial glass from the ternary glass (composition in wt%): 76 Si02, 13 Na20, 11 CaO are considered. The obtained results show that the simple ternary glass easily develops phase Separation upon annealing at suitable temperature levels. Conversely, Container glass is stabilized against demixtion by the presence of a significant AI2O3 concentration, a significantly lower Si02 content and a more complex chemical formulation (partial Substitution of Si02, Na20 and CaO with AI2O3, K2O and MgO, respectively, as well as minor ingredients).