Three-Dimensional Heat Transfer Modeling of a Moving Plate in Forming Process Applications

A three-dimensional heat transfer model of glass plates heating and cooling has been developed to study their thermal tempering. The furnace being modeled is of a tunnel type, in which the glass plate alternates translational motions with back and forth mouvements with a specified law. An appropriate implementation of a moving (transient) convection/radiation boundary condition has been proposed to describe the heat transfer exchanged between the glass surfaces and the furnace environment. The model results have been experimentally validated by a scanning pyrometer which detects the pointwise temperature of the upper surface of the plate at the exit of the furnace. ©2004 American Institute of Physics