DEPENDENCE OF GLASS-FORMING ABILITY ON STARTING COMPOSITIONS IN Y2O3-Al2O3-SiO2 SYSTEM

The dependence of glass-forming ability on starting compositions in Y2O3-Al2O3-SiO2 (YAS) system has been investigated by melting experiment. Transparent YAS glasses have been prepared under the condition of furnace cooling instead of quenching. It is found that, in the YAS ternary phase diagram, the compositions on the Y3Al5O12-SiO2 line and with 52-68 mol% SiO2 have a higher glass-forming ability to produce pure glass. For the compositions with too much or less SiO2 or with Y/Al = 5/3, 1/1, or 1/3, crystallization occurs with the formation of Y3Al5O12, Y2Si2O7, Al6Si2O13, or SiO2. The densities of the YAS glasses increase with decreasing SiO2 contents and increasing Y/Al ratios, and for the samples with Y/Al = 3/5 there is a good linear relationship between the density and SiO2 content.