The results of application of Maxwell’s equations in glass science

• Published in: Glass physics and chemistry Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 473 - 485
• Main Author: Nemilov, S. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-09-2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ceramics; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical bonds; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Constants; Electric potential; Glass; Materials Science; Mathematical analysis; Maxwell's equations; Melts; Natural Materials; Physical Chemistry; Shear modulus; viscosity; ionic conductivity; moduli of elasticity; internal friction; glass transition; Maxwell’s equations
• ISSN: 1087-6596; 1608-313X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1087659614050113

Results of the application of Maxwell’s equations to describe mechanical and electrical relaxations in inorganic glasses and their melts prove the validity of the theoretical treatment of the processes within the context of continuum approximation. The relaxation properties of melts and glasses are predetermined by instantaneous modulus of elasticity (shear modulus), which adequately describes the response of the environment to local excitations related to a particle’s (atoms and ions) passage through potential barriers and the values of these barriers. The following points have been proposed: (1) generalized description of ionic conductivity of glass at a constant voltage and that of its mechanical losses, and (2) a novel equation quantitatively relating viscosity at a glass transition temperature, instantaneous shear modulus, and cooling rate of the melt. These results are proved by the experiments without introduction of any fitted constants and do not need any structural constraints imposed on the material. A new equation was obtained making it possible to calculate the sizes of atoms involved in individual viscous flow events, which is also valid without fitted constants, but only for inorganic substances with a spatial network of chemical bonds. It was shown that Maxwell’s equations and relations obtained using them are prospective for the creation of a unified theory of transport and the relaxation properties of glass and melts.