Table of Contents
Soda lime glass is the base material for many types of glass. It has a low melting point and is non-reactive.
Several substances are added to soda lime glass in order to make it easier to work with. One of those is sodium carbonate, which lowers the glass-transition temperature and makes the glass water-soluble.
Light Transmission
Soda lime glass is the most common and least expensive type of glass used in manufactured products. It’s a clear, low-softening glass that is commonly float-formed by floating it over molten tin.
It has several properties that make it useful for general and more specialized applications. It’s cheap, it’s chemically stable, and it’s resistant to thermal shocks.
It’s also an electrical insulator and a light transmission material. It transmits visible light well, which is why it’s used in optically clear window applications. Its refractive index is around 1.5, meaning only 4% of the light that hits it will be reflected.
Thermal Expansion Coefficient
The thermal expansion coefficient is one of the main properties that determines a glass’ resistance to heat shock. The higher the value, the less likely a glass will break when exposed to sudden changes in temperature.
Soda lime glass is a common type of glass that is made by melting silica (SiO2), sodium oxide (Na2O) and calcium oxide or lime (CaO). It is often used in windows, bottles, containers, tubing, lamp bulbs, lens and mirrors, bells, glazes on pottery and tiles, and more.
This type of glass is dimensionally stable and has chemical durability. It is also relatively easy to work with and is inexpensive.
Read More: How Big Is The Energy Efficiency Resource?
Thermal Shock Resistance
Soda lime glass is the most common type of glass and is used in many everyday objects, including window panes, household bottles, jars and containers, and lab equipment. It is chemically stable and relatively inexpensive.
It is also reasonably hard (6-7 on the Mohs hardness scale), and can be chemically strengthened or tempered to make it three times harder and more scratch-resistant. It is workable because it can be softened and resoftened many times without losing quality, making it ideal for recycling.
Borosilicate glass has a much higher proportion of silica than lime glass (80% to 69%), which makes it less prone to breakage when it is exposed to heat. In addition, the boric oxide in borosilicate glass binds the silicate and aluminum oxide and sodium oxide to form a strong and durable material that can withstand thermal shock better than regular lime glass.
Electrical Insulation
Soda lime glass is the most common type of glass and is primarily composed of silicon dioxide (silica) with about 15% soda oxide (Na2O) and 9% calcium oxide or lime (CaO). The soda lowers the melting point of silica, while the lime stabilizes it.
The resulting glass is hard and has a 6 – 7 Mohs hardness scale, which indicates it has high abrasion resistance. The glass can be tempered using heat or chemicals to make it three times stronger.
Soda lime glass exhibits considerable electrical conductivities at elevated temperatures, but its near-room temperature resistivity is too low for practical applications. To address this issue, we fabricated a matrix composite reinforced with disk-like Ni-Cr alloy particles by spark plasma sintering and evaluated its electrical insulation properties.
Refractive Index
The refractive index of soda lime glass is relatively low, making it an excellent light-transmitting material. Only about 4% of the visible light that hits the material is reflected, and the rest passes through.
Soda lime glass is commonly used in windows, dinnerware, bakeware, and lighting products. It is also less expensive than other types of glass with more specialized properties, such as borosilicate or optical glass.
Soda lime glass is primarily made from three basic materials: silica, which makes up 70% of the finished product; sodium oxide, which lowers the silica’s melting temperature; and calcium oxide, or lime, which acts as a stabilizer. This combination of ingredients produces a glass that is floatable and can be formed into ribbons.
