Technical Glasses

Is it important for you to maintain purity to achieve high application temperatures and meet characteristic glass properties in the manufacture of special technical glasses? Heraeus will help you to attain these goals and to optimize your products. You can profit from our years of experience.

Your advantages in summary

The processing of glasses with higher melting temperatures is possible because the melting point of the platinum alloy is increased by rhodium alloy additions.

  • Special properties of the glasses – the high melting, creep resistant PtRh materials enable the production of technical glasses with special properties.
  • Optimum system design – because the platinum materials can be fully combined with each other.
  • Solutions specific to the customer, which we design and optimize jointly with you using our excellent expertise. Components can be supplied individually or as a series of items.
  • High durability of the components highlighted by the high strength and high ductility of the PtRh materials even in the weld joints.
  • Standards – we are certified to DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 and DIN EN ISO 14001. In the manufacture of high quality products, we work to the 5S standard and monitor processes by audit management. SixSigma tools are used for systematic process optimization.

Fields of Application of Technical Glasses

Anwendungsgebiete technischer Spezialgläser
  • Display glasses
    for televisions, monitors, laptops, handheld computers, smart phones
  • Medical glasses
    for analytical and pharmaceutical applications, e.g., Erlenmeyer flasks, ampoules, glass tubes, glass rods, laboratory glass
  • Glass-ceramics
    for cooking hobs, mirror supports for large telescopes, high-power reflectors for digital projectors, dental prostheses
  • Tableware
  • Hollow glass
  • Measurement technology
  • Mirrors and reflectors for digital projection
  • Glazed fronts for fireplaces
  • Glazing for refrigerators (with anti-bacterial coating, upright and chest refrigerators)
  • Borosilicate glass with high chemical resistance
  • Thin glass as a support for wafers
  • Flexible glass
  • Glass-metal composites with tailored CTE

Portfolio

Komponenten für die Glasproduktion
  • Crucibles
  • Feeder systems
  • Stirring cells
  • Stirrers and plungers
  • Refining chambers / refining systems
  • Bubbler pipes
  • Electrodes
  • Protective thimbles for thermocouples
  • Platinum cladding of ceramics
  • Orifice rings and outlet tubes
  • Mandrills for making glass tubes
  • Danner pipes
  • Manufacture of other custom made components

Individual design for the perfect process

Our solutions are available both for batch production and for continuous melting processes. They are employed for melting down, homogenization, and portioning. Component designs, individually agreed with you, enable the production of glasses to meet your requirements.

The melting equipment is often supported mechanically from outside by a ceramic which also serves as thermal insulation. To prevent damage to the component, the thermal expansion behavior of the platinum components and the ceramics have to be considered. We are pleased to support you in the continuous optimization of your system.

A special challenge for each type of glass

We offer you glass melting equipment with which you can manufacture glasses to meet your technical demands. Whereas display glasses require a high resistance to scratching, medical glasses for analytical and pharmaceutical applications have to demonstrate good resistance to acids or alkalis.

You can produce high purity technical glasses to meet special requirements using our equipment based on platinum-rhodium (e.g., melting crucibles, feeder systems, components for the Vello or Danner process...). The advantage of the platinum alloys containing rhodium is the increased strength combined with the higher melting point of the equipment, thus enabling the processing of very demanding glasses. We are pleased to support you in the selection of the suitable materials for your application.

  • Pt-10%Rh and Pt-20%Rh: if a conventional material is required.
  • Pt-10%Rh DPH: for high strength, dimensionally stable components which can withstand thermal expansion in the heating phase without damage.
  • Pt-10%Rh DPH-A: for high strength active components in which stiffness in torsion and dimensional stability are essential.

Looking for the right material? Our  Material Database may help.