Unsteady analyses of thermal glass fibre drawing processes

Abstract

Fibre drawing is an important industrial process for synthetic polymers and optical communications. In the manufacture of optical fibres, precise diameter control is critical to waveguide performance, with tolerances in the submicron range that are met through feedback controls on processing conditions. Fluctuations arise from material non-uniformity plague synthetic polymers but not optical silicate fibres which are drawn from a pristine source. The steady drawing process for glass fibres is well-understood (e.g. [11, 12, 20]). The linearized stability of steady solutions, which characterize limits on draw speed versus processing and material properties, is well-understood (e.g. [9, 10, 11]). Feedback is inherently transient, whereby one adjusts processing conditions in real time based on observations of diameter variations. Our goal in this paper is to delineate the degree of sensitivity to transient fluctuations in processing boundary conditions, for thermal glass fibre steady states that are linearly stable. This is the relevant information for identifying potential sources of observed diameter fluctuation, and for designing the boundary controls necessary to alter existing diameter variations. To evaluate the time-dependent final diameter response to boundary fluctuations, we numerically solve the model nonlinear partial differential equations of thermal glass fibre processing. Our model simulations indicate a relative insensitivity to mechanical effects (such as take-up rates, feed-in rates), but strong sensitivity to thermal fluctuations, which typically form a basis for feedback control.