Thermal analysis of a glass bending process

The paper presents the thermal simulation of naturally ventilated ovens used in glass sheets hot forming for windscreen production. The determination of thermal and flow conditions in the oven and, consequently, the windshield temperature distribution is necessary both for the productive process optimisation and to assure beforehand, without any iterative tuning process, the required characteristics of the product considered. To this purpose, the authors carried out a 3D numerical simulation of the thermal interaction between the glass and the oven internal surfaces during the whole heating process inside the oven. In particular, a finite volumes method was used to take into account both the convective, conductive and radiative heat transfer in the oven. The numerical temperature distribution in the glass was validated through the comparison with the data obtained from an experimental apparatus designed and built for the purpose. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved