Extrusion polymer melt

We consider a co-extrusion die consisting of an outer circular distribution channel of rectangular cross-section, connected to an extrusion slot, which is a slowly tapering narrow passage between two flat, non-parallel plates. The polymer melt is fed through an inlet into the distribution channel and flows into... 

Extrusion. In general, extmsion is the process of forcing a polymer melt through a die (104,105). Typical extmsion appHcations include initial resin pelletization after manufacture and production of film, sheet, pipe, tubing, and insulated wire. The HDPE extmsion temperature is around 150°C, the pressure 40—50 MPa (5800—7250 psi). An extmsion production line usually consists of an extmder (mono- or twin-screw) with a die at the end, a cooling and shaping device, a pulling device (a roUer), and a cutter. 

Deformation of a polymer melt—either thermoplastic or thermosetting. Processes operating in this way include extrusion, injection moulding and calendering, and form, in tonnage terms, the most important processing class. 

However, for the high strain rates appropriate for the analysis of typical extrusion and injection moulding situations it is often found that the simple Power Law is perfectly adequate. Thus equations (5.22), (5.23) and (5.27) are important for most design situations relating to polymer melt flow. 

Plasticisers are compatible and miscible with their host polymer causing them to swell and allowing them to be used for coating, moulding, spraying (when used as a suspension in a liquid solvent) or calendering, extrusion and injection moulding (when used as a polymer melt). 

The appearance of air bubbles in the polymer melt may occur under certain circumstances during processing. This phenomenon is rarely related to obvious faults in the polymer, but sometimes gas bubbles can be observed in cases of decreased thermal stability. Gas bubbles appear due to a certain amount of dispersed gas in the polymer matrix. Insufficient removal of gas from the extruder, particularly from the compression zone, can also cause the problem of air bubbles in the melt. An influence of the extruder screw could be established, because gas bubbles can be removed to some extent by using special screws or changing the extrusion conditions, along with the application of a vacuum. 

McClelland, D.E. and Chung, C.I., Shear Stress at Polymer/Metal Interface During Melting in Extrusion, Polym. Eng. Set, 23, 100 (1983)... 

Matsuoka, T. and Takahashi, H., Finite Element Analysis of Polymer Melt Flow in Profile Extrusion Coating Die, Int. Polym. Proc., 3,183 (1991)... 

P.D. Coates, S.E. Barnes, M.G. Sibley, E.C. Brown, H.G.M. Edwards and I.J. Scowen, In-process vibrational spectroscopy and ultrasound measurements in polymer melt extrusion. Polymer, 44, 5937-5949 (2003). 

---