Optical fiber instability during coating process

Abstract

Abstract In the present work, we study the stability of a system designed for the coating of optical fiber. This is achieved by studying the stability of the flowing resin in the die while coupled with a viscoelastic optical fiber. We develop a numerical code based on a sixth-order compact finite-difference method in order to solve the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations. We show that there is a bifurcation flow for a given value of the Reynolds number, wherever the vibration of the optical fiber has been experimentally observed. The stability of the resulting flow, coupled with a nonrigid optical fiber, is considered. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional stability analyses were made. The system was found to be subjected to two kinds of instability induced by two distinguishable groups of modes. For an optical fiber with a small radius, we assume that the preceding vibration may not be the only cause of the irregularity in the coating thickness. Therefore, a model taking into account the deformation of the liquid resin surface, under the action of the surface-tension forces, before resin solidification, and after leaving the die, is proposed. This model assumes that the liquid layer is subjected to surface-tension and gravity forces. It was found that the dynamic equation depends on two dimensionless parameters. It is found that the surface of the fiber has a wavy form. The length of the wave depends on the two dimensionless parameters. Our work shows qualitative agreement with the experimental results without adjusting arbitrary constants.