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ISSN Online: 2377-424X

ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-421-2

International Heat Transfer Conference 15
August, 10-15, 2014, Kyoto, Japan

Numerical Investigation of the Cooling of the Continuous Fiber Glass Drawing Process

Get access (open in a dialog) DOI: 10.1615/IHTC15.mfp.008715
pages 4721-4735

Abstract

The manufacturing process of glass fibers used for the reinforcement of composite material consists in drawing a glass melt at high temperature through an array of thousands of small orifices (i.e., the bushing plate) into fibers using a winder. This process is sensitive to numerous disturbances that can cause a fiber to break during the drawing process. This paper analyzes how the stress in the fiber depends on the controlling parameters of the process. The approach relies on numerical simulations and sensitivity analysis. Both a semi-analytical one-dimensional model and a more complex two-dimensional axisymmetric model are used. It is first found that radial variations across the fiber are small compared to changes in the axial direction and that the onedimensional approximation is accurate enough to describe the major trends in the process. Sensitivity analyses on some physical parameters controlling the heat transfers and on process parameters are then performed to identify strategies to reduce the axial stress. In particular, it is shown that, for a given fiber diameter, the stress is minimized if the glass melt temperature and the drawing velocity are increased. This approach is then applied to quantify the effect of inhomogeneous heat patterns on a bushing plate with a large number of fibers.