NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF GLASS FIBER COOLING IN HIGH-SPEED OPTICAL FIBER PRODUCTION SYSTEM

In optical fiber production, it is necessary to cool down glass fiber from furnace before liquid coating. This study focuses on the numerical investigation of glass fiber cooling process with helium supply. The results confirm the cooling effectiveness of helium supply compared to the case of no helium usage at higher fiber draw speed. The increase in helium supply enhances the fiber cooling by reducing the air entrainment. Helium cooling effect is found to be discrete when increasing fiber draw speed or helium supply rate, while it also depends on helium supply direction. There exists a certain threshold of helium supply rate for the saturation of fiber cooling effectiveness, as the fiber cooling ceases to improve after this threshold.