Comprehensive modeling of the glass container forming process

Industrial glass forming is a complex sequence of unit processes that includes melting and refining the raw material, cooling and conditioning the molten glass in forehearths and the actual forming processes in the individual section machine. The sensitivity of glass to the processing history requires that comprehensive modeling be used to yield accurate design information in order to control the final thickness distribution in the bottle. Numerical modeling is used for the analysis and design of the glass press and blow process with the objectives of determining the sensitivity of the final product to process parameters and improving the product design at reduced cost and time. All the stages of the complete process were modeled and the result of each unit was transferred and used as input for the next unit to predict the final bottle thickness distribution. In addition to specific thermo-mechanical coupling capabilities, 'mesh-to-mesh' interpolation and remeshing techniques are available to allow a continuation of the calculations in spite of very severe mesh deformations. This work evidences the powerful modeling capabilities available today to address successfully the critical stages of the glass forming process.