The purpose of this research has been
to broaden the scope of the flame spraying process by using it on hot,
blown glass. By flame spraying it is possible to create easily coloured
glass articles and to give glass new character by metal coating. This research
project started in 1991 and will continue until the end of 1996.
The flame spraying method is conventionally used
to cover metallic articles with metallic, plastic or ceramic coatings.
The coating material is in powder form. The powder is first fed into the
spray gun and then sprayed with a carrier gas to the flame. The flame accelerates
the droplets and they impact on the material to be coated. The particles
have enough energy to form small plates when hitting the surface. As the
coating proceeds, many plates are formed and the surface is completely
covered.
The flame spraying process itself is very easy
with combine to the glassworking. Using masks, the designer can vary the
surface decorations, which cannot be made by other methods at the hot stage.
Feeding glass powder to the spray gun turned out
to be one of the most complicated proplems. In this project a new powder
feeding system was build for glass powders. It was also necessary to design
new glass materials wtih special chemical properties and a structure suitable
for flame spraying.
The latest application in this research project
is working with liquids in the reactive flame spray process on glass.
This research aims to develop new applications of
the glass colouring process in industry and studio production. The research
is mainly financed by the Technological Develpment Center of Finland (TEKES).
Partners in Finland have been Tampere University
of Technology, Department of Physics, and Åbo Akademi University,
Department of Inorganic Chemistry. The State University of New York at
Stony Brook, Department of Materials Science & Engineering has also
been involved with the research.
Flame sprayed glass objects designed by Markus
Eerola have been on displayed in several exhibitions:
1994: Glass Art Now, Finnish Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark,
New Finnish Glass, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Krrr, Hyvinkää Art Museum , Hyvinkää, Finland.
Glass, Gallery Arioso, Stockholm, Sweden
1993: Pearlfishers, Gallery Otso, Espoo, Finland,
1992: For the children of Joukahainen, Finnish Glass Museum, Riihimäki,
Finland
