A highly temperature-resistant glass fiber and a preparation method therefor. The glass fiber comprises 62-66 wt % of SiO.sub.2, 14-19 wt % of Al.sub.2O.sub.3, 15-20 wt % of CaO, 0-2 wt % of MgO, 0-3 wt % of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, and 0-1.2 wt % of TiO.sub.2, the total content of Na.sub.2O and K.sub.2O is 0.1-0.8 wt %. By precisely controlling the mixture of the components, the glass fiber has good resistance to high temperature and formability, and significantly increases the high-temperature softening point. The glass fiber has a forming temperature of not exceeding 1380° C., an upper limit temperature of devitrification of lower than 1280° C., and a high temperature softening temperature of 950° C. or above.

Methods and apparatus for producing fibers from igneous rock, including basalt include heating igneous rock by electrical conductive coils to achieve an homogenous melt and forming homogenous fibers from the melt.

Systems and methods for drawing high aspect ratio metallic glass-based materials are provided. Methods of drawing a high aspect ratio metallic glass-based material are premised on stably drawing high aspect ratio metallic glass-based material from a preform metallic glass-based composition, accounting for the relationships between: the desired formation of an amorphous structure that is substantially homogenous along the majority of the length of the drawn high aspect ratio material; the desired final geometry of the drawn high aspect ratio material; the nature of the force that is used to draw the molten metallic glass-based composition; the velocity at which the high aspect ratio material is drawn; the viscosity profile of the material along its length as it is being drawn; and/or the effect of temperature on the metallic glass-based material. A precise thermal treatment is imposed along the forming length of the drawn material so as to enable a steady state drawing process, the precise thermal treatment being based on: the desire to develop a substantially same amorphous structure along the length of the drawn material; the desired final geometry for the drawn material; the nature of the force used to draw the material; the velocity at which the material is being drawn; and/or the thermal treatment's impact on the viscosity profile of the material along its length as it is being drawn.

Systems and methods for drawing high aspect ratio metallic glass-based materials are provided. Methods of drawing a high aspect ratio metallic glass-based material are premised on stably drawing high aspect ratio metallic glass-based material from a preform metallic glass-based composition, accounting for the relationships between: the desired formation of an amorphous structure that is substantially homogenous along the majority of the length of the drawn high aspect ratio material; the desired final geometry of the drawn high aspect ratio material; the nature of the force that is used to draw the molten metallic glass-based composition; the velocity at which the high aspect ratio material is drawn; the viscosity profile of the material along its length as it is being drawn; and/or the effect of temperature on the metallic glass-based material. A precise thermal treatment is imposed along the forming length of the drawn material so as to enable a steady state drawing process, the precise thermal treatment being based on: the desire to develop a substantially same amorphous structure along the length of the drawn material; the desired final geometry for the drawn material; the nature of the force used to draw the material; the velocity at which the material is being drawn; and/or the thermal treatment's impact on the viscosity profile of the material along its length as it is being drawn.

A system for controlling an ambient microgravity environment of a system for drawing optical fiber including a filter arranged to cleanse an environment from contaminants, a molecular sieve arranged in a series of at least one of meshes and baffles to dehumidify the environment, at least one of a pump and a fan to draw an environmental gas through the filter, through the molecular sieve and back in to an ambient environment and a housing in which the filter, molecular sieve and at least one of pump and fan reside.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a bushing that allows molten glass to be stably drawn out from nozzles provided in a small-sized base plate, and a method for producing glass fiber. A bushing (11) is configured to satisfy the following relations (1) to (6): y1Yy2 (1), y1=4/3X+3 (2), y2=4/3X+8 (3), X=D1.sup.4/Lt (4), Y=A3(A1+A2) (5), and A3=L1L2 (6), where, for first nozzles (N1) and second nozzles (N2) in the bushing (11), D1 is a nozzle hole inner diameter [mm], Lt is a nozzle flow path length [mm], A1 is a nozzle hole cross-sectional area [mm.sup.2], A2 is a nozzle wall cross-sectional area [mm.sup.2], L1 is an interval [mm] between the centers of adjacent first nozzles and an interval [mm] between the centers of adjacent second nozzles, and L2 is an interval [mm] between the centers of adjacent first and second nozzle.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a bushing that allows molten glass to be stably drawn out from nozzles provided in a small-sized base plate, and a method for producing glass fiber. A bushing (11) is configured to satisfy the following relations (1) to (6): y1Yy2 (1), y1=4/3X+3 (2), y2=4/3X+8 (3), X=D1.sup.4/Lt (4), Y=A3(A1+A2) (5), and A3=L1L2 (6), where, for first nozzles (N1) and second nozzles (N2) in the bushing (11), D1 is a nozzle hole inner diameter [mm], Lt is a nozzle flow path length [mm], A1 is a nozzle hole cross-sectional area [mm.sup.2], A2 is a nozzle wall cross-sectional area [mm.sup.2], L1 is an interval [mm] between the centers of adjacent first nozzles and an interval [mm] between the centers of adjacent second nozzles, and L2 is an interval [mm] between the centers of adjacent first and second nozzle.

The present invention discloses a glass with high refractive index for fiber optic imaging elements with medium-expansion and fabrication method therefor, the glass comprising the following components in percentage by weight: SiO.sub.2 5-9%, Al.sub.2O.sub.3 0-1%, B.sub.2O.sub.3 23-28%, CaO 0-3%, BaO 6-12%, La.sub.2O.sub.3 30-34%, Nb.sub.2O.sub.5 4-8%, Ta.sub.2O.sub.5 0-1%, Y.sub.2O.sub.3 0-1%, ZnO 4-9%, TiO.sub.2 4-8%, ZrO.sub.2 4-6%, SnO.sub.2 0-1%. The present invention further provides a fabrication method for the glass with a high refractive index, comprising: putting raw materials quartz sand, aluminum hydroxide, boric acid or boric anhydride, calcium carbonate, barium carbonate or barium nitrate, lanthanum oxide, niobium oxide, tantalum oxide, yttrium oxide, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, zirconium oxide and stannic oxide, etc. into a platinum crucible according to the requirement of dosing, melting at a high temperature, cooling and fining, leaking and casting to form a glass rod, and then annealing, cooling and chilling the molded glass rod.

A preform material including a starter tip to facilitate an initial fiber draw from the preform within a furnace, wherein the tip comprises a vacuum-sealed tip to receive a plastic grip which attached to an end of a preform.

The present disclosure provides the installation of an apparatus for cooling a manufactured glass rod. The apparatus has at least two cooling chambers arranged along the glass strand for sectional cooling of the glass strand. A gaseous cooling medium is either blown into the cooling chamber or sucked out of the cooling chambers. The glass strand is passed through each cooling chamber, with an orifice provided at each of the pass-through points, whose opening is larger than the cross-section or diameter of the glass strand. As a result, an annular gap forms between the opening and the surface of the glass strand, so that a turbulent flow of the gaseous cooling medium is generated, which enables a high cooling rate.