Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Aachen Reinforced, Aachen, Almanya, 17 - 19 Ekim 2022, ss.1-2
Various reinforcing materials are used for fiber-reinforced plastics or composites, e.g. glass fibers, carbon fibers or natural fibers. In terms of volume, glass fiber reinforced plastics (GRP) dominate the composites market with a share of approx. 95% of the total market volume [1]. Glass fibers, along with carbon fibers, are thus the most important fibers in the global economic market. In conventional glass fiber production, the individual filaments are cooled as quickly as possible after leaving the bushing to prevent crystallization of the glass and thus achieve high tensile strength. In more modern plants, cooling fins are often used for this purpose. These are brought as close as possible to the heated bushing (approx. 1250 °C) to cool the exiting glass as quickly and efficiently as possible. The flow rate of the coolant is usually only adjusted manually and not actively controlled. As a result, homogeneous cooling over the entire bus ring surface is not possible and the individual filaments exhibit a higher dispersion in their mechanical properties. The aim of the GLASSCOOLER project is to develop a new system component for active cooling of the individual filaments and the necessary measurement and control units. By optically measuring all fibers during solidification and adaptively controlling the cooling, it is possible to reduce the variation in mechanical properties across all filaments and thus achieve higher overall strength. In addition, documentation of fiber properties during the manufacturing process is enabled and quality checks are automated.