Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Title: Numerical and Experimental Study of Blow & Blow for Perfume
Authors: Adrià Biosca1,2, Salvador Borrós3, Vicenç Pedret Clemente1 , Matthew R. Hyre4 and
1
Ramon Clemente, El Masnou, Spain
2
Grup d’Enginyeria en Producte Industrial (GEPI), Institut Químic de Sarrià - Universitat Ramon
Barcelona, Spain
4
Mathematics, University of Northwestern,, St. Paul, MN, USA
Abstract:
Glass forming to produce perfume bottles with specific thickness distribution profiles is based on trial and
error and requires several tests in production line. These tests are expensive and time-consuming, which
increases time to market. The use of a numerical model aims to reduce the number of prototypes by performing
virtual tests of the mold equipment and the process conditions. This article presents results of numerical
simulations of the blow and blow forming process to predict glass thickness distribution. Correlation of the
simulation results of the glass temperature with experimental infrared measurements on the glass skin and
This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not
been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may
lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as
doi: 10.1111/ijag.13208
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
experimental validation of glass forming simulations and influence of the blank mold cavity in the thickness
distributions of perfume bottles are provided. Finally validation of the results of axisymmetrical and three-
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dimensional models for axisymmetric bottles defining a useful technique to use the right blank mold for desired
Keywords: “numerical and experimental study”, “blow and blow forming process”; “glass thickness
prediction”; “perfume bottle”, “axisymmetrical and 3D models” (Web: simulation, glass, viscosity and extra
I. Introduction
Despite the tendency for decades to reduce the use of glass for packaging, when it comes to the perfume
industry, perfume bottles are almost all made of glass as glass preserves the properties of the product stored
inside and adds value to packaging thanks to its transparency, brightness and weight. The quality requirements
for glass perfume bottles are very demanding: containers tend to have difficult shapes (usually non-
axisymmetric) with complex glass thickness distributions and there is a low tolerance to container defects.
The industrial process for producing glass containers is called blow and blow (BB) glass forming process.
This is a complex process and a full understanding has not yet been reached. It is not possible to see the glass
flow within the molds during the blowing stages. Obtaining accurate values of glass and forming tools
properties is very difficult due to high temperatures, corrosive environment and fast-paced forming process.
The design of the mold cavities and the definition of machine operation times and process temperatures are
key issues to develop and mass produce optimal containers. The manufacture of glass containers is still based on
empirical knowledge and trial and error methodology. The use of heuristic problem-solving techniques does not
guarantee an optimal solution when only a specific amount of time and resources are available. A sub-optimal
production process can cause container defects and a decrease of the production rate.
(i) The shape and specifications of the container are initially defined.
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(ii) All the mold equipment pieces are designed and prototypes of each piece are CNC machined in cast iron.
(iii) Machine operation times and process temperatures are defined and the mold prototypes are tested on an
individual section (IS) machine to manufacture the first units of the new glass container.
(iv) The quality of the perfume bottles formed is controlled during the tests and adjustments are made to
(v) If necessary, production tests are repeated with new designs of mold cavities and production process
The development of perfume bottles with very demanding quality requirements and specific thickness
distribution profiles generally requires several iterations and production tests. The experimental iterations are
expensive, they increase time to market and they involve huge downtimes in manufacturing. The use of
numerical simulations will allow a better understanding of the production process and improve the quality of the
The aim of this article is to demonstrate the feasibility of numerical simulations as a tool to support the
design of mold cavities and the definition of the machine operation times for new developments of perfume
bottles. A numerical and experimental study of the blow and blow forming process has been conducted in the
Ramon Clemente (RC) (1) glassmaking plant. The results of the glass forming simulations of the perfume
bottles are presented and compared with their corresponding section profiles obtained from the industrial
manufacturing process. A numerical model capable of predicting final thickness distributions as a function of
blank mold cavities and production process conditions using axisymmetrical and three-dimensional models is
presented.
The first attempts with numerical simulations in glass forming were published during the 1980s, in 1984 (2)
and especially in 1986 (3), including both the blank side and the blow side of the press and blow (PB) forming
process. The evolution of numerical techniques along with the improvement of the computational capabilities
helped the implementation of the numerical approach over years. This, together with experimentation, made it
possible to understand glass flowing and heat transfer phenomena inside the molds during the forming process.
the final container blowing. The evolution has been extensively reviewed in the past (5,6).
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The glass industry has recently used glass forming simulations to study several topics:
(a) Optimization of mold temperature and cooling control using VertiFlow cooling systems (7–10).
(b) Optimization of the thickness distribution in order to reduce the weight of the containers and improve
their mechanical properties (11). The use of the narrow neck press and blow (NNPB) forming process for
lightweighting is a common practice in glass containers for the food industry. Current food containers have
experienced a weight reduction of more than a 50% compared to those of two decades ago (12).
(c) Study the causes of the known container defects and find solutions to improve production rates of
glassmaking (13).
(d) Support experimental studies to measure the thermal and mechanical properties at the glass-mold contact
interface (e.g. heat transfer (14–16)) and how the use of lubricants is related to heat transfer (17) and friction
coefficients (18).
(e) Reverse engineering algorithms were presented to optimize the design of the blank mold cavity using a
Numerical simulations are commonly used to study the NNPB forming process. Despite the differences in the
gob loading and parison forming stages, the production process remains very close to the BB forming process.
Although several authors have presented numerical results of the glass thickness distribution (21–24), there is
a lack of publications where the numerical results are compared with the profiles of manufactured container to
appreciate the reliability of the numerical results and/or pursue the validation of the numerical model. Moreover,
published work on BB forming process simulations for glass perfume bottles is rarely seen (20,25).
The industrial glass forming process takes place inside two different molds. When the forming process in
both molds is carried out by blowing the glass against the walls of the mold cavity, this is known as the blow
and blow (BB) forming process. As an alternative, instead of blown, glass can be pressed with a plunger into the
first mold, then it is called press and blow (PB) or narrow neck press and blow (NNPB). These two other
the working end and conditioned in the forehearth. Afterwards the molten glass stream flows through the feeder
and is cut into discrete gobs of glass. These gobs are then distributed by the delivery equipment to each IS
machine, where the BB forming process takes place (see Fig. 1).
Once the glass gob is cut and delivered, it is loaded through the funnel into the blank mold, which is placed
upside-down. First the neck of the container is formed: a small plunger is inserted from the bottom and the settle
blow is performed by blowing pressurized air from the baffle, which has been placed on top of the funnel after
the loading stage. Afterwards, the funnel is removed and the baffle is placed on top of the blank mold, defining
the blank cavity. The plunger is then removed and pressurized air is blown from the neckring, allowing the glass
At this point the parison is still upside-down. The baffle is then removed and the blank mold is opened
allowing the parison, still held by the neck, to be inverted and transferred into the blow mold by the swing of a
mechanical arm. At that moment, the blow mold closes, the neckring opens and the parison remains hanging on
top of the blow mold by the neck. The blow head is placed on top of the mold, blowing the glass against the
walls of the blow cavity to create the final shape of the container.
Finally, the blow mold is opened and the tong takes out the container to a conveyor belt. The manufactured
containers are sent through an annealing lehr, where the cooling rate is controlled to release glass internal
stresses. After the quality control inspection, the containers are packed in boxes and pallets.
Defining the glass domain under the forming process involves the solution of differential equations that
describe the conservation of mass, momentum and energy of the flow. Glass is assumed to be an incompressible
fluid.
∇· =0 (1)
= −∇ − ∇ · + (2)
where is the density, the operator D⁄D is the material time derivative, is the pressure, is the viscous
stresses tensor and is the volume force. The viscous stresses can be combined with the pressure into a total
= + (3)
=− ∇· + − : ∇v (4)
where is the heat capacity, is the temperature, is the heat flux, is the volumetric external heat source
Glass has been modeled as a generalized Newtonian fluid. The constitutive equations for the glass domain
= −2 , (5)
where is the viscosity, is the shear rate and is the deformation tensor, defined by
is defined by
⁄
= 2 : (7)
The boundary conditions for fluid dynamics in the flow domain Ω can be written as either velocity
= , for x ∈ Ω (8a)
· = ̅ , for x ∈ Ω (8b)
where is the outward vector normal to the boundary, and ̅ are specified functions.
Thermal boundary conditions at the glass mold interface are the most important boundary conditions of the
glass forming problem. These can be defined specifying the temperature (Dirichlet BC) or the heat flux
= , for x ∈ Ω (9a)
= , + + for x ∈ Ω (9b)
where d/d is the derivative normal to the boundary, and are specified functions and and are the
Free surfaces are used to track the displacements of the boundaries of the glass domain during the blowing
stages. Before contact with the mold cavity, dynamic and kinematic conditions define the displacement of the
free surface.
will be zero, however, in the blowing stages it will be defined as the blowing pressure.
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The kinematic equation for time-dependent problems is defined as
· = , · (10)
where is the normal vector to the free surface and , describes the position of the free surface.
Contact detection between the moving surfaces and the walls of the mold is implemented through a penalty
technique (29). At each time step, each node on the glass domain is tested to determine whether it is in contact
with the mold walls. Once contact is detected, the discrete momentum equation of the nodes is then modified by
a penalty term to avoid penetrations. In the normal direction to the contact surface the following condition is
applied
=− − · (11)
where is the normal force vector, is the penalty coefficient and and are the velocities of the glass
Using the same principle in the tangential direction, a friction coefficient between glass and mold can be
defined as
=− − , (12)
where is the tangential force vector and is the slip coefficient. When is equal to a sticky contact
is defined. If is smaller than then the slipping of glass on the surface of the mold is allowed.
To solve the conservation equations, the constitutive equations and the boundary conditions presented before
the commercial FEM code ANSYS Polyflow has been used. The numerical simulations describe the glass flow
during the BB glass forming process. An axisymmetrical and a three-dimensional model have been implemented
has been used. Volume conservation is verified so as not to modify the initial volume of the glass domain due to
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remeshing. A penalty technique is defined for contact detection of the free surfaces with the walls of the mold.
Planes of symmetry have been used whenever possible to reduce the computational cost of the simulations:
only a section and ¼ of the domain have been simulated in the axisymmetrical and in the three-dimensional
models, respectively.
(1) Viscosity
Viscosity is the most important property in glassmaking, not only because it defines the resistance of glass to
flow, but also because it has a strong dependence on temperature. The viscosity together with the temperature
distribution strongly influences the glass flow in the forming process, especially during the blowing stages.
Glass is an amorphous solid, so it has no crystalline structure or melting point therefore. This means that the
viscosity of the glass, or its resistance to flow, varies continuously with temperature: from 103 dPa·s around
1,200 ºC where glass behaves like a fluid to 109 dPa·s around 650 ºC where the viscosity is so high that glass
loses the ability to flow. The working range for the glass forming process can be defined as a function of
Glass viscosity is a very sensitive material property, not only to the changes in temperature and glass
composition, but also to variations in the furnace operation, raw material suppliers or weather conditions. Glass
viscosity is periodically characterized in external laboratories to control viscosity changes over time and
The strong temperature dependence on glass viscosity is commonly expressed using the VFT (Vogel-
log = + (13)
where , and are empirical coefficients that must be defined for each glass composition.
these phenomena only begin to become important as the glass temperature descends near its transition
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temperature and glass is subjected to high stresses.
The viscoelastic effects may be relevant at the NNPB pressing stage, where they can be modeled to predict
defects as the glass fills the neckring (6,13). Viscoelastic effects and structural relaxation models have been
taken into account in the numerical simulations of the TV panel pressing process to predict the glass properties
at the very end of the forming process (33). Although, these phenomena only begin to become important as the
glass temperature descends near its transition temperature and glass is subjected to high stresses.
At the end of the BB forming process, when the final blow finishes and the blow mold is opened, viscosity
values are high enough to withstand gravity and low deformation effects. At the same time, the values of
viscosity of the glass container are still under the annealing point, so the internal stresses can be quickly relaxed.
Thus,, glass can be considered a Newtonian fluid for the modeling of the BB forming process. Therefore, the
As indicated in Eq. (9b), the heat flux within the glass domain and its boundaries is defined by conduction
During forming operations inside the molds, the semitransparent internal radiation of the glass has been
approximated using an effective conductivity that accounts for the extra amount of heat due to the internal
radiation. The radiative component has been approximated as a diffusive process and has been added to the
Radiation effects are not negligible and the parison is not optically thick, but using an effective conductivity
based on temperature and thickness (38) compensate for radiative effects during forming. This approximation is
valid as the heat flux to the mold that is due to semitransparent radiation is, on average, an order of magnitude
less than that which is due to contact conductance (39). However, the amount of error introduced for the heat
The most complex phenomenon in the simulations of the glass container forming process is the thermal
contact between the glass and the molds. In the glass-mold interface, the main mode of heat transfer is contact
conductance. There is a contact resistance that causes convective heat transfer to deviate from perfect contact.
This resistance is the result of a thin gap of air and combustion products of the lubricant at the glass-mold
interface. The thickness of this gas layer depends on the surface finish of the mold and varies according to the
process conditions: the separation between glass and mold increases due to the thermal contraction of the glass
Several authors have performed extensive experimental studies of these phenomena to characterize the heat
flux at the glass-mold contact interface as a function of the glass and mold conditions (14–16) and (36–45).
Although these studies have shown that heat transfer may be a function of the operating conditions,
temperatures, material properties, pressure, contact time, etc. there is not yet an accurate model to predict these
phenomena on the glass forming simulations. Until a full understanding is reached, an accepted approach is to
define heat transfer with a coefficient. The heat transfer coefficient is usually written as a function of time and
To validate the numerical glass forming model under different forming process conditions, two perfume
bottles from Ramon Clemente (RC) with differentiated shapes, specifications, machine operation times and
process temperatures have been selected (see Table 1). The IS forming process cycle refers to the total amount
of time needed to produce a single perfume bottle in a section. These two examples are representative of the
SIERRA 60, it was intended to obtain a bottle with a uniform glass thickness distribution throughout the section
profile. The main priority was to avoid thin and fragile areas, especially at the edges and vertices of the bottle.
Instead, ALFA 200 followed the opposite principle. The trend of recent years in perfume bottles is to obtain an
overweighed aspect (47). This is used to enhance the aesthetic properties of glass and increase the perceived
value of the final product. The main objective was to accumulate a large amount of glass at the bottom of the
(b) The conditions of the production process depend very much on the container shape and the glass weight.
The production machine rates, the process temperatures, the gob specifications and the machine operation times
must be adjusted accordingly to form the optimal gob and parison for each specific container; which implies
adjustments to all the conditions of the forming process. This was taken into account when defining the glass
forming problem.
(c) The numerical models of the two perfume bottles have different “scales” of time and volume (see Table
1). The definition of the boundary conditions at the glass-mold interface as a function of contact time (i.e. heat
transfer coefficient), together with the use of actual machine operation times is necessary to obtain accurate
results. Depending on the domains sizes and the total simulation time, different values of time step and mesh
size were defined to have reasonable computation times without compromising accuracy.
Covering all these aspects was important to ensure that the numerical model can handle glass forming
(2) Methodology
In order to carry out the simulations of the BB forming process for a glass perfume bottle, it is necessary
previously to gather information about the glass, the bottle and its production process. Numerical glass forming
models require accurate data of temperature-dependent material properties and additional parameters that are
often difficult to obtain. Most of this information must come from the production line of the glassmaker
manufacturer: process conditions, glass temperatures and properties, machine operation times, mold cavity
shapes, etc. To make experimental measurements of glass in the forming process is a complex and time-
consuming task. And in the event that it is possible, it requires quite expensive and fragile measuring devices.
able to criticize the obtained results and validate them. In short, to have confidence with the glass forming
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numerical model and the predicted glass thickness distributions.
In order to perform the numerical simulations of the BB glass forming process, the following information
must be specified in the numerical model: geometry of the molds and glass domains, glass material properties,
boundary conditions, production process parameters and temperatures of the glass and molds:
(a) The geometrical boundaries of the blank and blow mold domains are defined from the cavities of the mold
equipment. The glass domain needs to be defined too; this procedure will be explained later.
(b) Material properties for the glass domain are defined from experimental data. Tests were performed in an
external laboratory to characterize the viscosity of the RC glass Coefficients of the VFT viscosity equation
(Eq. 13) expressed in log η (dPa·s) are A = -0.026, B = 5200 and To = 200 (see May2016 plot in Fig. 2 with
regression R2=0.9702). Density and the specific heat of the glass are assumed constant and are defined from the
chemical composition of the RC glass. Effective conductivity has been defined as a function of glass
temperature using a UDF function, dependence of the thickness is not taken into account in the numerical
model. Effective conductivity values expressed in W/m·ºK are in a range from 4.25 at 1,027ºC to 2.4 at 727ºC
(c) Boundary conditions of the heat transfer coefficient at the glass-mold interface is defined as a function of
the contact time. Figure 3 shows the values used in the simulations. The heat transfer coefficient has been
(d) Counter blow and final blow pressures are obtained from the production process. From the IS drum
rotation degrees, the machine operation times can be obtained. Then the duration of the glass forming stages
modeled in the simulations can be defined (see Table 2). The production machine rate is specified for the
production process in a single gob six IS machine. The simulation ends after the complete expansion in the blow
mold.
(e) Glass temperature measurements have been made during the forming processes for the two bottles using
an infrared thermal camera. The temperature profiles on the glass skin obtained in the different stages of the
forming process where glass is visible and can be measured using infrared will be used to verify the numerical
temperature decreases from 1,030ºC to around 650ºC and different color legends have been used.
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Measurements during the stages of gob forming and loading are used to define the initial temperature of the
glass gob (48), which is assumed to be constant. The temperature measurements of the parison once the blank
mold is opened and until the blow mold is closed are used to follow the parison reheating. The final container
along with the parison temperature measurements can be used to roughly estimate the heat transfer from the
Blank and blow mold temperatures are defined from bibliographic data.
(f) Finally, bottles are cut to obtain cross sections to be able to compare the thickness distribution of the
numerical simulations with the thickness distribution of the glass bottles manufactured in the production line.
Detailed simulation results of the axisymmetrical model of the SIERRA 60 bottle are presented at different
simulation steps of the BB forming process (see Fig. 5). The following explanation can be extended to the four
The stages of gob forming, gob loading and settle blow are not modeled. Thus, as an initial condition, the
glass gob is considered to be inside the blank mold and the neckring cavity is filled with glass. The free surface
at the top of the loaded gob has been defined using the infrared thermal camera after the settle blow. The volume
of the glass domain is in accordance with the weight of the glass bottle. This defines the initial geometry of the
glass domain (Fig. 5A). When the simulation starts, heat transfer begins immediately at the glass-mold contact
interfaces of the walls of the blank mold cavity and the neckring. Due to the contact heat transfer, a temperature
distribution in the glass domain is defined before the counter blow stage (Fig.5B), defining in turn a viscosity
distribution that will define the glass flow. In the counter blow stage, pressure is applied and glass expands
through the blank cavity to create the parison (Fig.5C, 5D and 5E). In the blowing stage the glass domain is
remeshed several times to avoid distortion of the mesh elements due to the large deformations of the free
surfaces. After expansion, glass continues to cool in contact with the walls of the mold cavity (Fig.5F) until the
blank mold is opened. Then, the parison skin is allowed to start reheating (Fig.5G). Inversion effects are not
considered, gravity is inverted when the parison is transferred to the blow side (Fig.5H). During the parison
ready to be blown inside the blow mold (Fig.5I). Parison stretching does not have a significant effect on
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perfume bottles. Perfume parisons are relatively short, thin and light compared to parisons in other industries
(e.g. beer or wine bottles). The parison run distances are generally very small to be able to hide the baffle seam.
Thus, the stretching stage is not taken into account. The final blow expands the parison throughout the blow
mold cavity (Fig.5J, 5K and 5L) to define the glass thickness distribution of the final perfume bottle. The
simulation time ends after the expansion of the glass has finished. The remaining blowing time would be used to
cool the glass bottle until the blow mold is opened, but the thickness distribution is already defined.
Deformations of the bottle due to the thermal contraction of the glass or to the stress relaxation phenomenon are
To validate the BB glass forming model under different forming process conditions, simulations of two
Ramon Clemente (RC) perfume bottles have been performed. In addition one of the two containers was tested
with two blank mold cavity designs to show their influence on the obtained glass thickness distribution. In all
the numerical simulations, the same material properties and boundary conditions were used. Mold design and
process parameters (e.g. machine operation times, process conditions and glass temperatures) for each container
It is important to realize how different both bottles and their forming processes are:
(a) The designs of the blank mold cavities seek to obtain very different glass thickness distributions, as can be
(b) ALFA 200 is more than three times heavier than SIERRA 60, as a result, all process temperatures and
(c) The dependence on the material properties and heat transfer at the glass-mold interface with the
temperature of the glass and the contact time are essential to obtain reliable results.
Numerical simulations of the BB forming process with for the SIERRA 60 bottle have been performed.
agreement for the glass thickness distribution of the perfume bottle (see Fig. 5). The glass thickness distribution
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predicted by the simulations correlates with the cross section profile of the glass bottle. The characteristic shape
of the glass distribution reproduces well in the results, especially in the bottom of the container.
This example demonstrates the ability of the blow and blow numerical model to predict the glass thickness
It can be stated how manufactured bottles, even axisymmetrical, do not always show a perfect symmetrical
distribution of the glass thickness due to deviations of the production process (Fig. 6D).
The reheating of the parison skin can be observed from the parison temperature measurements obtained after
the blank mold has been opened and until the blow mold is closed. These temperature measurements show a
trend similar to the numerical results of the temperature field in the glass domain. Although there is a very good
reliability in the results of the glass thickness distributions, more efforts are needed to minimize the error of the
Usually several production tests are required to test new iterations of the mold cavity designs during the
development of a new perfume bottle until the desired glass thickness distribution is obtained. For this reason,
the ability of the numerical model to predict the influence of the blank mold cavity in the glass thickness
Different blank mold iterations were designed during the development of the ALFA 200 bottle. The
containers manufactured with the first blank mold (cavity A) showed a poor glass distribution at the base of the
bottle, more glass at the bottom of the bottle was desired. Therefore, a second blank mold (cavity B) was
designed and tested to improve the aesthetics of the ALFA 200 perfume bottle. Using the second blank mold
design, the glass thickness distribution at the bottom of the bottle was improved, a thicker and flatter glass base
was obtained and the aesthetics of the bottle were improved (see Fig. 7).
Numerical simulations of the BB forming process with the initial and the final design of the blank mold
cavity (cavities A and B, respectively) for the ALFA 200 bottle have been performed. All the forming process
conditions remained the same except for the design of the blank mold, both in the production tests and the
numerical simulations.
agreement for the glass thickness distribution of both perfume bottles using both blank cavities (see Fig. 8). The
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glass thickness distribution predicted by the simulations correlates with the cross section profiles of the glass
bottles. The modifications made to the second blank mold design (see Fig. 8A and 8E) improve the glass
thickness distribution of the numerical results and the manufactured final container (see Fig. 8C, 8D, 8G and
8H). As can be noted in the numerical results and the sectioned containers, the glass thickness on the shoulder
has been reduced and the bottom distribution has been improved: it is flatter and the bottom corners are more
rounded. The characteristic shape of the glass distribution reproduces well in the numerical results using for
both blank molds, especially in the bottom of the containers and results in an important improvement of the
glass thickness distribution at the base of the bottle. The small differences in the shape of the blank mold design
substantially improve the glass thickness distribution of the containers, this can be stated with the manufactured
This example demonstrates the capability of the blow and blow numerical model to predict the influence of
Glass perfume bottles tend to have difficult non-axisymmetric shapes. Many of the new RC developments are
non-axisymmetric bottles. Thus it is important to also develop a three-dimensional model for the simulations of
the BB forming process capable of handling all types of perfume bottle shapes.
For this reason, the simulation of the blowing stages of the SIERRA 60 bottle has been repeated using the
same forming process conditions. But instead of using the axisymmetrical model already presented, a three-
The comparison of the predicted results of the axisymmetrical model with the three-dimensional model
shows identical results for the glass thickness distribution for the perfume SIERRA 60 bottle (see Fig. 9). The
same results of the glass thickness distribution have been obtained. Although, it is important to state how the
large amount of mesh elements used in the three-dimensional model greatly increases the computational time.
This example demonstrates the ability of the glass forming model to handle all types of perfume bottles,
As mentioned above, initial gob temperature has been determined from experimental measurements during
the gob forming and loading stages using an infrared thermal camera. By varying only the initial glass
temperature and maintaining all other process parameters, such as glass viscosity and blank and blow mold
temperatures, the model only shows slight differences in the glass thickness distribution results (see Fig. S1).
This figure shows that thickness distribution is similar for three different initial temperatures. The purpose of the
project is to define the right blank mold that leads to a desired concave, convex, flat or straight shape avoiding
thin parts. For this purpose the effect of initial temperature, within measurement errors, leads to the same shape
results.
The amount of time necessary to achieve full expansion of the glass during the counter and final blow stages
varies with the temperature of the glass, since the glass flow velocity is in turn related to the glass viscosity. But,
in all cases, the temperature distribution in the glass domain remains almost the same. Therefore, there is the
same viscosity distribution and the glass thickness distribution also remains nearly identical.
The authors believe that the model is much more sensitive to the heat transfer coefficient and to the effective
conductivity (i.e. the temperature gradients along the glass domain) than to the temperature itself. However,
more work is needed in the temperature measurements and numerical simulations to minimize the error (which
The dependence of numerical results on the mesh quality and time step has been studied due to the different
glass weight and duration of the IS forming process cycle of the two simulation models. The two bottles have
different “scales” of time and volume, it seems logical that it is not optimal to perform the BB glass forming
simulations of both bottles using the same time step and the same mesh size. Time step and mesh size must be in
transfer in the glass domain depends very much on both parameters. Simulations have been performed using
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different values of time step and mesh size, decreasing both parameters until obtaining the required precision.
Fine meshes are needed to obtain an accurate calculation of the heat transfer in the glass domain and in the
It can also be stated that remeshing techniques should be used with caution. As the numerical solution is
mesh size dependent, the use of finer meshes is recommended. Near the glass-mold contact interface there are
huge temperature gradients so a fine mesh is required; on the other hand, internal glass temperatures are more
even and bigger mesh elements may be used. Nevertheless, the use of remeshing techniques with different mesh
sizes to reduce the element count is not recommended. The use of a uniform mesh size for the entire glass
VII. Conclusions
A numerical and experimental study of the blow and blow forming process has been carried out in the
Ramon Clemente glass manufacturing plant. The results of the glass forming simulations of the perfume bottles
are presented and compared with their corresponding section profiles obtained from the industrial manufacturing
process. The numerical model is able to predict final thickness distributions as a function of the blank mold
cavities and the production process conditions using axisymmetrical and three-dimensional models of two
selected perfume bottles. The two bottles are representative of the wide range of Ramon Clemente’s most
common perfume bottles and their forming process conditions. The numerical model can handle glass forming
The numerical model predicts consistent results in the glass thickness distribution. The implementation of the
presented model will be a very useful simulation tool to acquire knowledge about the blow and blow glass
forming process and will help with the development of new glass perfume bottles. This simulation tool will be
used to guide the design of the mold equipment, specially the design of the blank mold cavity. The quality of the
manufactured containers will improve, while reducing the amount of expensive experimental iterations and time
to market.
continue working. The numerical model is undergoing continuous improvement with the study of more
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simulation cases based on bottles with different shapes and operation conditions. Further work is still needed to
obtain more accurate thermal data of the glass and the heat transfer in the interface with the molds. With the
help of field measurements in the production plant it will be possible to change the generic bibliographic data
used as input of the simulations to more specific production process data. For example, the conjugate heat
transfer between glass and mold has been successfully tested in the numerical model but has not yet been
implemented due to the lack of experimental or numerical data of the temperature distributions in the molds.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge Matthew Hyre and Emhart Glass that provided useful experimental data
and guidance on ANSYS Polyflow and glass forming simulations; Fundació LaCaixa for its financial support
and ACCIÓ to partially fund this project with European Regional Development Funds under the Nuclis project
RD16-1-0015.
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Figure 1. Container forming IS machine stages of the blow and blow forming process: (A) gob loading, (B)
settle blow, (C) counter blow, (D) inversion, (E) reheat and stretch, (F) final blow and (G) take out.
Figure 2. Temperature dependence on viscosity plotted on a logarithmic scale. Different RC glass samples as
Figure 3. Heat transfer coefficient at the glass-mold interface used in the numerical simulations It is defined
Figure 4. Infrared thermal captures of the glass forming stages were glass can be seen: (A) and (B) gob
forming, (C) gob loading, (D) blank mold open, (E) parison reheating, (F) blow mold open, (G) and (H) take
out.
compared with a (D) cross section profile of the SIERRA 60 real bottle.
Figure 7. ALFA 200 manufactured bottles using the two blank molds: blank mold cavity A (left) and blank
Figure 8. Numerical results of the initial step, parison and final bottle compared with a cross section profile
of the bottle ALFA 200. Results of blank mold cavity A top (A) initial step (B) parison, (C) final bottle in
simulation (D) final bottle experimental and cavity B bottom (E) initial step (F) parison, (G) final bottle in
Figure 9. Numerical results using axisymmetrical model (left) of the (A) initial step, (B) parison and (C)
final compared to three-dimensional model (right) (D) initial step, (E) parison and (F) final of the SIERRA 60
bottle.
Figure S1. Influence of the glass gob temperature on the final glass thickness distribution results. (A) is the
experimental measured temperature (1,030ºC), (B) adds +50ºC and (C) adds +100ºC to the initial glass gob
temperature.
Figure S2. Influence of the mesh sizes and remeshing algorithms on the glass temperature results in the
glass-mold interface. Temperature results using a uniform mesh size (top) and a non-uniform mesh size
(bottom).
Table 2. Relevant forming times to define the numerical simulation stages according to the IS machine
operation times.
Table 2. Relevant forming times to define the numerical simulation stages according to the IS machine
operation times.