Hemipherical wineglass shells fabricated by a Chemical Foaming Process

This paper explores a Chemical Foaming Process (CFP) as an enabling mechanism for creating 3-D structures such as hemispherical shells. The Chemical Foaming Process utilizes the thermal decomposition of the foaming agent, TiH₂ in the paper, to increase the air pressure in the cavity to foam Pyrex 7740 glass into 3-D smooth and symmetric wineglass shells under high temperature. The Chemical Foaming Process for fabricating 3-D hemispherical shells was experimentally demonstrated, and the hemispherical shell was characterized by Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that the method for fabricating 3-D hemispherical shells of high aspect ratio may provide a basis for hemispherical shell resonators and promise micro-scale Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope (μHRG).