Commercial E-glass melts contain 5-7% B2O3. It was of interest to determine if the melt viscosity, log3 forming temperature & energy demand of these E-glass compositions can be reduced by reducing the delta between log3 forming & liquidus temperature while still offering crystallisation resistant melts, & if their boron level can be reduced while still meeting ASTM specifications. Trend line design, a new compositional model, showed that the log3 forming temperature of incumbent E-glass melts can be reduced by up to 44C by reducing the delta between log3 forming & liquidus temperature from 120C to 65C. Another new compositional model showed that the log3 forming temperature increases at the same delta temperature (crystallisation resistance) by 12C for every 1% reduction of the boron level.
