Rheology of Thermoplastic Foam Extrusion

摘要

A phenomenological model of flow in an extrusion die has been developed. The macroscopic effect of the phase change from a homogeneous polymer melt, that contains a blowing agent, to a foam can be described in terms of two dimensionless parameters, alpha and theta. alpha is defined as the ratio of the pressure gradient in the melt phase to the average pressure gradient in the foam phase. theta is the corresponding ratio of pressure differences in the melt and foam phases. The position at which the phase change initiates, the exit contribution to the Bagley ends pressure correction, and the true wall shear stress in the melt phase can be related to alpha and theta. The data of Han and Villamizar, who measured pressure distribution in a transparent extrusion die and directly observed the phase change, are used to calculated alpha and theta. The prediction of these parameters is discussed. The observation that product quality generally improves with increased extrusion rates may be related to the position at which the phase change from a homogeneous melt to a foam initiates. A mechanism which supports this connection is described. (ERA citation 08:012725)