It is of great importance for polymer processing whether and how viscosity influences the wettability of tool surfaces. We demonstrate the existence of a distinct relationship between the contact angle of molten polymers and zero shear viscosity in this paper. The contact angle of molten polypropylene and polymethylmethacrylate on polished steel was studied in a high temperature chamber using the sessile drop method. A high pressure capillary rheometer with a slit die was employed to determine the shear viscosity curves in a low shear rate range. A linear relation between the contact angle and zero shear viscosity was obtained. Furthermore, the contact angle and the zero shear viscosity values of the different polymers were combined to one function. It is revealed that, for the wetting of tool surfaces by molten polymers, a lower viscosity is advantageous. Furthermore, a model based on the temperature shift concept is proposed which allows the calculation of the contact angle of molten polymers on steel for different temperatures directly from shear viscosity data.
The wettability of steel and coatings used for tools and screws in polymer processing is often determined at room temperature. However, it has to be taken into account that polymeric materials are processed at higher temperatures. Contact angle measurements of melted PP, HDPE, PMMA, and PA 6.6 on steel and on TiN, TiAlN, CrN, DLC, and PTFE were performed in this work to investigate the wetting behavior under closer-to-processing conditions. The contact angle is dependent on time and the ambient atmosphere. Oxidation and degradation of the polymer melts influence wetting significantly. TiN, TiAlN, CrN, and DLC exhibit a rather good wettability, whereas the highest contact angle of the polymer melts was observed with PTFE. Higher roughnesses of the surfaces lead to an increase in the contact angle. It was also shown that a higher temperature causes a better wetting of the solid surfaces.
Extrusion technology is one of the most prominent methods for processing polymers. The shape of polymer pellets plays an important role in conveying solid material through the extruder and thus directly influences the mass flow rate. In the course of this article, the influence of the pellet shape of a polypropylene homopolymer on the processing conditions using a smooth barrel single‐screw extruder is evaluated. Especially the mass flow rate, the melt temperature, and the pressure build up in the barrel are investigated. It can be shown that processing long cylindrical pellets leads to a higher mass flow rate than comparable experiments with virgin pellets or short cylinders. Additionally, screw cool and pull‐out tests, measurements of the external coefficient of friction as well as the bulk density of the different pellet geometries are performed. The interaction of the screw geometry and the pellet shape is found to have the biggest influence. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41716.
Processing of thermoplastic composites is increasingly gaining importance due to their excellent mechanical properties combined with their recycling-feasibility. However, distinguishing anisotropic thermal properties of these materials make process simulation challenging. This work deals with an alternative way of analytical modeling of the anisotropic thermal conductivity of fabrics embedded in a thermoplastic matrix, as in the case of sheets for thermoforming applications, in which heating times are often process limiting. By creation of a unit cell and applying heat flux balances, the thermal conductivity in the fiber direction and in the transversal direction can be calculated. The transversal direction is the most important factor for the addressed thermoforming applications. The proposed model is then successfully validated through Hot Disk measurements of glass fiber reinforced polyamide sheets. Furthermore, authentication is reached by the comparison to measured thermal conductivity values from another study. Hence, it can be shown that the model proves to be more accurate than existing analytical models.
Bulk solids are the raw material for almost every polymeric thermoplastic product. Their properties determine the quality of solids conveying and also influence the melting behavior of the material in processing units. This study investigates the influence of pressure and temperature on the bulk density of two thermoplastic polypropylene pellets of different shapes. Furthermore, the external friction dependent on temperature and pressure of those materials is examined at conditions usually occurring in the solids conveying zone of smooth barrel plasticating units. The experiments are carried out using a tribometer for polymer pellets which was adapted for these tests by making the sample chamber, the piston, and the cylindrical roll heatable. The tests show that long cylindrical pellets exhibit low bulk densities at low pressure and temperature, which can be increased dramatically-even above the values of spheroidal pellets-as those parameters increase. Moreover, the external coefficient of friction is always higher for the long cylinders and strongly dependent on the temperature. Those facts add up and can cause a higher output of single-screw extruders.
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