Simulation of the fiber spinning process

Process simulation is becoming increasingly important with the main target in the design of the melt spinning process to find an optimal design for the spinneret and the quench air unit for maximum throughput and quality. Several models are available in specialist literature and these are compared. A new model is described here for the simulation of the fiber spinning process developed by the Fraunhbofer Institute of Applied Mathematics (ITWM), Germany, working with Neumag GmbH. It is based on presenting the quench air flow as particles and is called PARPAC (Parallel Particle Codes). The GLB method (Generalized Lattice Boltzmann) is used and the process described. The experiments carried out are detailed using a number of polymers, different spinneret configurations and different quench air conditions. The measurement methods are examined. An account of the comparison of simulations and experiments follows, with these corresponding well. (12 fig 18 ref).