Innovative Materials and Intelligent Products: application to GLASS – MIPIVERRE

This project is devoted to the development of innovating technologies for rapid tooling purposes, involving conception, manufacturing and transfer for glass industries. A better knowledge of the manufacturing process will be therefore required, in order to develop various products of complex shape, more rapidly, more cheaply, and in a constant regular way.
The present program is supported by the MIPI (a group in Lorraine for the development of Innovative Materials and Intelligent Products). It is considered as a priority by industries related to glass manufacturing (Daum, Baccarat, Saint Louis, Saint Gobain et BSN), involved in REVELOR (REseau VErrier LORrain).

Glass is a participating medium : this particularity does not allow a direct use of codes dedicated to plasturgy sciences (where media are often non-participating) or siderurgy sciences (concerned with opaque materials). Two PhD thesis are already supported by DAUM and BACCARAT companies since octobre 2005. The first one deals with mould feeding (directed at LEMTA, on combined heat transfer and fluid dynamics) and the second one on forming (under a joined direction by LEMTA and LSGS, on combined heat transfer and solid mechanics).
In both cases, the expected work will include :
- learning and practice of codes dedicated to mechanics (AQUILON and NASTRAN),
- development and integration of a solution for the radiative transfer equation in 3D complex geometry,
- measurement of thermophysical properties of glasses made by Daum and Baccarat companies,
- numerical code validation through experimental investigations.

Pôle Verrier Lorrain group will be in charge of the technological review on existing processes and tools : patents, economical studies, valorization and publication of our results on the basis of the dedicated paper by the group: idveille.

The research group of CIRTES will be in charge of the manufacturing of instrumented moulds based on its Stratoconception process, allowing the accurate visualization of the mass flow, the mould feeding, the mechanical stress monitoring inside the tool itself. These moulds will be made of metals or refractory materials. Research will be specifically devoted to the multilayer devices and the numerical simulation of their behavior.

Engineers from the CERFAV will prepare and conduct the experimental study aimed at the validation of the numerical codes. They will also calibrate an optical pyrometer specifically designed for the present study. Industrial partners (DAUM and Baccarat) will provide samples required for the thermo-mechanical characterization part. They will also contribute to the process evaluation and will conceive some useful industrial products with simple shape.

Results of the present project will benefit to :
- both industrial partners directly concerned but also to companies involved in similar glass manufacturing,
- small manufacturers searching for a better knowledge of forming processes and laboratories or groups involved in technology transfer, for which a better understanding will be provided on participating medium processing or mould manufacturing.