STEADY-STATE HEAT TRANSFER AND DRAW FORCE FOR POF MANUFACTURE

摘要

In this study the force required to draw a polymer preform into optical fiber is predicted and measured. The full axi-symmetric conjugate problem (including natural convection, thermal radiation, and free surface prediction) was solved using the commercial finite element package FIDAP. Results show that thermal radiation accounts for approximately 70% of the total heating experienced by the deforming polymer, but only 15% of the cooling. The required draw force is very sensitive to both the furnace wall temperature and to the feed rate of the polymer.