Peter Buchak

Drawing tubular fibres: experiments versus mathematical modelling

A series of six experiments drawing tubular fibres are compared to some recent mathematical modelling of this fabrication process. The importance of fibre tension in determining the internal geometry of the fibre is demonstrated, confirming a key prediction of the models. There is evidence of self-pressurisation of the internal channel, where an additional pressure is induced in the internal channel as the fibre is drawn, and the dependence of the magnitude of this pressure on fibre tension is discussed. Additionally, there is evidence that the difference between the glass and furnace temperatures is proportional to the furnace temperature and dependent on the preform geometry.

Asymptotic Modelling of a Six-Hole MOF

We model the drawing of a six-hole microstructured optical fibre with a combination of asymptotic techniques and a new efficient numerical method, and compare this to a previous set of experiments and finite element simulations. The new approach accurately models the deformation of the inner channels and predicts cross-sectional fibre geometries that are a better match to the experiments than the fibres, more computationally expensive simulation technique.