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Guidelines for balancing the flow in extrusion dies: the influence of the material rheology

  • A. Rajkumar , L.L. Ferrás , C. Fernandes , Olga S. Carneiro EMAIL logo and J. Miguel Nóbrega
Published/Copyright: April 13, 2017
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Journal of Polymer Engineering
From the journal Journal of Polymer Engineering Volume 38 Issue 2

Abstract

In this work we present improved design guidelines to support the die designer activity, when searching for the flow channel geometry that allows the achievement of a balanced flow distribution, in complex profile extrusion dies. The proposed methodology relies on surrogate models, obtained through a detailed and extensive numerical study, carried out with the open source computational library OpenFOAM®, in which an appropriate numerical solver for the problems under study was implemented. The main contribution of this work is to further enlarge the applicability of the simplified design methodology (Rajkumar A, Ferrás LL, Fernandes C, Carneiro OS, Becker M, Nóbrega JM. Int. Polym. Proc. 2017, 32, 58–71.) previously proposed by this group for similar purposes, by considering the effect of processing parameters and material rheology. The sensitivity analyses performed showed that, among the studied parameters, the power-law exponent was the only one that affected the system behavior. Thus, the previous proposed surrogate models were modified to include the effect of this parameter. Verification studies performed for three geometries and different rheological and process parameters evidenced the effectiveness of the proposed simplified design methodology.

Keywords: complex profile extrusion dies; flow balancing; OpenFOAM®; power-law index; surrogate models

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank for the financial funding by FEDER through the COMPETE 2020 Program, the National Funds through FCT under the project UID/CTM/50025/2013. A. Rajkumar acknowledges the MIT-Portugal program and FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) for the funding through scholarship SFRH/BD/51943/2012, and L.L. Ferrás for the financial support by FCT through scholarship SFRH/BPD/100353/2014.

Appendix 1

The fitting function, or model, is given by:

L1t1=a(n,  t2 , L2/t2)[t1t2]2+b (n,  t2 , L2/t2)[t1t2]+c (n,  t2 , L2/t2)

For the L-die and T-die, the coefficients are given as follows:

a=x1(n)4+x2(n)3+x3(n)2+x4(n)+x5, b=u1(n)4+u2(n)3+u3(n)2+u4(n)+u5and c=v1(n)4+v2(n)3+v3(n)2+v4(n)+v5

x1=w1(t2)2+y1(t2)+z1u1=o1(t2)2+p1(t2)+q1v1=e1(t2)2+f1(t2)+g1
x2=w2(t2)2+y2(t2)+z2u2=o2(t2)2+p2(t2)+q2v2=e2(t2)2+f2(t2)+g2
x3=w3(t2)2+y3(t2)+z3u3=o3(t2)2+p3(t2)+q3v3=e3(t2)2+f3(t2)+g3
x4=w4(t2)2+y4(t2)+z4u4=o4(t2)2+p4(t2 )+q4v4=e4(t2)2+f4(t2)+g4
x5=w5(t2)2+y5(t2)+z5u5=o5(t2)2+p5(t2)+q5v5=e5(t2)2+f5(t2)+g5

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Received: 2017-1-12
Accepted: 2017-3-7
Published Online: 2017-4-13
Published in Print: 2018-2-23

©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/polyeng-2016-0449
Keywords for this article
complex profile extrusion dies; flow balancing; OpenFOAM®; power-law index; surrogate models

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Original articles
  3. Mechanical and rheological properties of polystyrene-block-polybutadiene-block-polystyrene copolymer reinforced with carbon nanotubes: effect of processing conditions
  4. Effects of surface modification of halloysite nanotubes on the morphology and the thermal and rheological properties of polypropylene/halloysite composites
  5. Influence of the polyacrylonitrile proportion on the fabricated UF blend membranes’ performance for humic acid removal
  6. Effects of partial replacement of carbon black with nanocrystalline cellulose on properties of natural rubber nanocomposites
  7. Conductive mechanism of carbon black/polyimide composite films
  8. Effects of fiber-surface modification on the properties of bamboo flour/polypropylene composites and their interfacial compatibility
  9. Highly electrically conducting poly(L-lactic acid)/graphite composites prepared via in situ expansion and subsequent reduction of graphite
  10. Preparation and performance optimization of PVDF anti-fouling membrane modified by chitin
  11. Fabrication of bilayer resin-bonded fixed abrasive wires using the pultrusion process
  12. Guidelines for balancing the flow in extrusion dies: the influence of the material rheology
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