Analysis of Low Temperature Viscosity Data for Three NBS Standard Glasses

The low temperature viscosities of three glasses established as viscosity standards at the National Bureau of Standards are reported. The data overlap results which appear on the published certificates between 10⁹ and 10¹² poise and present extensive measurements up to 10¹⁶ poise. The measurements were made using both the fiber-elongation and beam-bending methods. No evidence of an Arrhenius behavior was found for any of the three glasses, even though the measurements covered a narrow range of temperatures. An analysis of the inherent measurement uncertainty associated with each method indicates that the fiber-elongation measurements are more precise than the beam-bending measurements. Analysis of the data and its uncertainty by the Fulcher Equation supports the conclusions of the error analysis.