Rheological Properties of Optical Fiber Coating Resins at High Shear Rates

摘要

In optical fiber production, a glass fiber is pulled through a coating cup that is filled with resin. The drag flow induced by the moving fiber at high drawing speeds gives rise to high shear rates (typically 10~5-10~6 s~(-1)) at the location near die exit. Optical fiber resins usually show complicated non-Newtonian behavior as shear rate increases. The rheological profile of the resin versus shear rate influences the flow in the coating cup to a large extent. Therefore, understanding the resin's rheology profile is desired in order to be able to optimize the processing conditions for coating application in the high-speed fiber drawings. Detailed insights in the high shear rate rheology of optical fiber coating resins, and its relationship to molecular structure, have allowed us to develop novel coating systems with optimum rheological properties in order to obtain improved processability.