On a 1-D model of stress relaxation in an annealed glass. (Q558540)

The entire No. 2 of this volume is composed of selected contributions to the seminar ``Programs and Algorithms of Numerical Mathematics 10'' that took place in the Czech Republic in 2000. Hence, the paper bears the character of a conference contribution. The paper describes a 1-D model of an annealing furnace used in the glass production. The industrial process called annealing consists in regulated heating and subsequent cooling of sheet glass. The most delicate problem here is to propose a suitable cooling schedule as the fast cooling would result to large residual strain and possible cracks in the glass, whereas slow cooling is not economical. The presented model predicts the displacements and stresses of the medium at each position in time. The governing equations are those of the classical 1-D linear viscoelasticity and a load due to temperature gradients is assumed. The model itself is described in quite a detail but the numerical solution is represented by a brief discussion of the algorithm using the method of lines only. Two examples of computations with particular cooling schedules are given and the results are discussed critically.