Corning Incorporated

John L Martin

Dean Veral Neubauer

John David Helfinstine

William Robert Powell

Daniel J Liebner

Daniel Jay Liebner

Isopipes for use in making sheet glass by a fusion process are provided which exhibit reduced sag. The isopipes are composed of a zircon refractory which has a mean creep rate (MCR) at 1180&#xb0; C. and 250 psi and a 95 percent confidence band (CB) for said mean creep rate such that the CB to MCR ratio is less than 0.5, the MCR and the CB both being determined using a power law model. The zircon refractory can contain titania (TiO) at a concentration greater than 0.2 wt % and less than 0.4 wt %. A concentration of titania in this range causes the zircon refractory to exhibit a lower mean creep rate than zircon refractories previously used to make isopipes. In addition, the variation in mean creep rate is also reduced which reduces the chances that the zircon refractory of a particular isopipe will have an abnormally high creep rate and thus exhibit unacceptable sag prematurely.

Sag control of isopipes used in making sheet glass by the fusion process

Isopipes for use in making sheet glass by a fusion process are provided which exhibit reduced sag. The isopipes are composed of a zircon refractory which has a mean creep rate (MCR) at 1180&#xb0; C. and 250 psi and a 95 percent confidence band (CB) for said mean creep rate such that the CB to MCR ratio is less than 0.5, the MCR and the CB both being determined using a power law model. The zircon refractory can contain titania (TiO) at a concentration greater than 0.2 wt. % and less than 0.4 wt. %. A concentration of titania in this range causes the zircon refractory to exhibit a lower mean creep rate than zircon refractories previously used to make isopipes. In addition, the variation in mean creep rate is also reduced which reduces the chances that the zircon refractory of a particular isopipe will have an abnormally high creep rate and thus exhibit unacceptable sag prematurely.

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Weston, WV, United States of America

John L Martin