Forming Of Noncircular Cross-Section Si02 Glass Fibres

Silica glass fibres with triangular and rectangular cross-sections have been produced by two different means, namely, preform drawing and powder extrusion. For the preform drawing method, silica glass rods were machined and polished to yield preforms with the desired cross-sections. Although the two manufacturing processes are radically different, both involve flow of a fluid with a temperature-dependent viscosity and this dictates that shape trueness (ie flat faces and sharp corners) is a function of the drawing and extrusion rates and the temperature during drawing and sintering.