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ISSN Online: 2377-424X

ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-474-8

ISBN Online: 978-1-56700-473-1

International Heat Transfer Conference 16
August, 10-15, 2018, Beijing, China

NUMERICAL STUDY AND OPTIMIZATION OF GLASS FIBER DRAW FURNACE IN OPTICAL FIBER MANUFACTURING SYSTEM

Get access (open in a dialog) DOI: 10.1615/IHTC16.mmp.021987
pages 5635-5642

Resumo

The glass fiber drawing is an important process in optical fiber mass manufacturing and its process precision could affect the final qualities of optical fibers such as signal transmission loss and fiber strength. In a glass fiber draw furnace, a cylindrical preform of highly purified silica is fed and heated over silica softening temperature by the heating element, as a very thin glass fiber is pulled away from melted tip of preform by applying a proper amount of draw tension. There have been many computational studies for glass fiber drawing process but with overly simplified models of draw furnace. In this numerical investigation, high-speed glass fiber drawing process and formation of preform neck-down shape are simulated with a realistic draw furnace model which includes the heating element with surrounding insulation and multiple purge gas input as well as furnace muffle tube and cooling section. By utilizing iterative scheme between 1D axial momentum balance model for neck-down shape prediction and 2D thermo-fluid computations, process simulations could show accurate prediction of preform neck-down shape and draw tension. The process optimization of the fiber drawing process is also discussed by investigating the influences of important process parameters such as fiber drawing speed, heater temperature, purge gas supply, the use of helium in purge gas, and other parameters on system conditions of draw tension, glass fiber cooling, and fiber resolidification location.