METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING STRUCTURAL BLOCK FROM GLASSES OF DIFFERENT COMPOSITIONS AND DEVICE FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION Russian patent published in 2022 - IPC C03B37/00 

FIELD: optical and electronic industries.

SUBSTANCE: inventions group relates to optical and electronic industries and can be used in the manufacture of glass fiber products, in particular fiber optic and microchannel blocks. The effect is to improve the quality of monolithic structural blocks from different glass compositions by maintaining the original physical properties of glasses and minimal diffusion processes at the interface. The method for manufacturing a structural block consists in placing a block of glass blanks in a glass flask, placing the flask with a block of blanks into the internal cavity of the sintering chamber, heating the chamber in the upper, lower and two middle heating zones. Pump out the gas from the flask during the entire heating process. Sintering is carried out by isostatic pressing followed by cooling. The heating of the chamber in the upper zone and the middle zone adjacent to it is carried out to the temperature of softening and sealing of the upper part of the flask free from the structural block. Simultaneously with heating of the chamber in the upper zone and the middle zone adjacent to it, the chamber is heated in the lower zone and the middle zone adjacent to it to the flask annealing temperature. After that, heating is carried out in the lower zone and the middle zone adjacent to it to a temperature close to the transition temperature of the glass into a viscous-liquid state. Sintering is carried out first at a working gas pressure of 5-10 kg/cm² for the time necessary to stabilize and equalize the temperature in the area of ​​the block of blanks, after which the pressure is increased and at a working gas pressure of 11 kg/cm² the block is sintered to a monolithic state. The device for implementing the method contains a sintering chamber with a sealed glass flask placed inside it with a block of blanks, a muffle furnace with four heaters, thermocouples controlling the gas evacuation system from the flask, a compressed gas supply unit connected to the sintering chamber. The device also contains a thermal accumulator and hermetically sealed tubes with control thermocouples installed inside them, the tubes are located in the sintering chamber along the heating zones between the glass flask and the inner surface of the muffle furnace, while the thermal accumulator is located above the sintering chamber.

EFFECT: production of monolithic structural blocks from different glass compositions without distortion of their structure.

3 cl, 1 dwg