Nd 2 O 3 doped low silica calcium aluminosilicate glasses: Thermomechanical properties

The effects of Nd2O3 doping on the thermal and mechanical properties of vacuum melted, low silica, calcium aluminosilicate glasses are presented. For the doped glasses, the vitrification limit was found to correspond to a maximum load of 5 wt % Nd2O3. The influence of the rare earth doping on the thermal 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 these parameters, as a function of the Nd2O3 doping, strongly supports the idea that the Nd3+ act as network modifiers.