Numerical sensitivity analysis of a complex glass forming process by means of local perturbations

Many industrial processes are characterized by a complex spatio-temporal and nonlinear dynamic behavior. Examples are rheological forming processes (e.g. glass, steel, plastic). For process optimization it is very important to know the impact of possible perturbations to the relevant process variables and the process ""output"" parameters (e.g. product properties). In this paper a glass forming process is investigated. We are concerned the effect of local perturbations to the global variable fields (e.g. temperature, velocity and geometric profile of the glass). The sensitivity of the process variables to the perturbations is calculated numerically. In detail perturbations of the oven temperature profile (stationary) and material inhomogeneities (time dependent) are investigated. The results of the sensitivity analysis are actually used for the development of optimal control strategies.