Profile Extrusion: Experimental Assessment of a Numerical Code to Model the Temperature Evolution in the Cooling/Calibration Stage

Abstract

Designing an industrial calibration system that ensures fast and uniform cooling of a complex extruded profile is always a difficult task. Numerical tools are a valuable aid for the design of these systems in order to achieve fast, low‐cost, and effective solutions. This work comprises the experimental validation of a numerical code, previously developed to support the design of profile extrusion calibration systems, using data collected from an industrial extrusion line. The referred numerical code was developed in the open‐source computational library, OpenFOAM, being able to predict the heat exchanges between the polymer and the calibrator during the profile extrusion cooling stage. The good agreement obtained between the numerical code predictions and the experimental measurements allowed us to confirm the code accuracy. Subsequently, and in order to demonstrate the usefulness of the numerical code, a numerical study was carried out based on an optimization algorithm aimed at improving the performance of the studied calibration system. As a result, the study led to the proposal of an alternative setup, which presents a simpler constructive solution and a better performance than the existing one. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:2367–2376, 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers

Energy Consumption vs. Tensile Strength of Poly[methyl methacrylate] in Material Extrusion 3D Printing: The Impact of Six Control Settings

“…Commonly used approaches to study polymers’ effects on material extrusion manufacturing processes are both theoretical (e.g. numerical calculations) [ 20 , 21 , 22 ] and experimental methodologies [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. For the analysis of the results various modeling tools are often used, such as the Taguchi design [ 3 , 8 , 9 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 19 ], full factorial Design of Experiments [ 27 , 28 ], Box-Behnken design [ 13 ], Analysis of Variances (ANOVA) [ 11 , 29 , 30 ], and artificial neural networks modeling [ 12 ].…”

Numerical Study of Residual Stresses Due to External Cooling in Extruded Polymer Profiles

“…[ 20 ] and Rajkumar et al. [ 21 ] modeled the heat transfer in the cooling stage using a numerical finite volume method. They found that it was more efficient to use several individual cooling units in series, separated by relatively short air zones where the temperature tends to equalize.…”

“…Furthermore, temperature gradients along the profile contour and thickness should be minimized, in order to induce adequate morphology development and a reduced level of residual thermal stresses. [17][18][19] Nóbrega et al [20] and Rajkumar et al [21] modeled the heat transfer in the cooling stage using a numerical finite volume method. They found that it was more efficient to use several individual cooling units in series, separated by relatively short air zones where the temperature tends to equalize.…”

Temperature Profile Measurement Using Modified Cooled Stainless Tube Technique in a Single Screw Extruder Coupled With a Modified Thermocouple Mesh – Effect of Screw Speed

“…Inconsistency of temperature in extruder machine needs CST to stabilize the temperature in several zone. Several research found that designing cooling system in extruder machine to obtain uniform cooling and to produce complex extruded profile is challenging [6]. This system should also be able to produce a decreased degree of residual thermal stresses by limiting the temperature gradient that develops along the profile cross section [7,8].…”