The use of an electric field could make it easier to soften and form glass into desired shapes while reducing the amount of energy required to do so, researchers from Lehigh and the University of Colorado reported yesterday.
In an article published by the journal Applied Physics Letters, the researchers said the “application of a DC [direct current] field significantly lowers the melting temperature of glass.”
High temperatures are required to soften and form glass products into specific shapes, said Himanshu Jain, professor of materials science and engineering at Lehigh. These temperatures in turn require the consumption of large amounts of energy.
“Electrical heating is widely used in the initial melting process, but not for forming operations, which require glass to be soft and easily deformable, while also keeping the desired shape,” Jain said in a press release accompanying the Applied Physics Letters article.