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Nattapong Nithi-Uthai, Ica Manas-Zloczower
Numerical Simulation of Sharkskin Phenomena in Polymer Melts

Appl. Rheol. 13:2 (2003) 79-86

A fluid dynamic analysis package, PolyFlow, based on the finite element method is used to study the sharkskin phenomenon. A stick-slip mechanism is used as the basis for the simulations. This study is aimed at illustrating how fluctuations in the stress at the exit from the die cause similar fluctuations in the extrudate swell ratio, resembling the sharkskin phenomenon. Such fluctuations in the stress at the exit from the die are produced by implementing a stickslip boundary condition at the die wall, mimicking a mechanism of molecular entanglement/disentanglement at the wall. We use a superposition of stress relaxation/stress growth and a periodic change in extrudate swell governed by the die exit stress level to depict sharkskin. Three relatively monodisperse polybutadienes were used in this study. The simulated sharkskin time period was found to be in good agreement with experimental findings. We found that the simulated pictures of sharkskin are similar for all three molecular weight samples. A comparison between the simulated sharkskin and experimental results show qualitative resemblance. The main problems preventing us from generating more quantitative sharkskin results mainly reside in the model limitations in depicting stress singularity, limitations in mesh design refinement and the constitutive model employed. In spite of these limitations, the qualitative agreement between simulation results and experimental data is good.

Cite this publication as follows:
Nithi-Uthai N, Manas-Zloczower I: Numerical Simulation of Sharkskin Phenomena in Polymer Melts, Appl. Rheol. 13 (2003) 79.

Nattapong Nithi-Uthai, Ica Manas-Zloczower
Numerical Studies of the Effect of Constitutive Model Parameters as Reflecting Polymer Molecular Structure on Extrudate Swell

Appl. Rheol. 12:5 (2002) 252-259

PolyFlow, a software package based on the finite element method was employed to simulate the extrudate swell for polybutadiene of various molecular weight (Mw) and molecular weight distribution (MWD). We calculated the relaxation spectra for the different samples and then inserted the spectra into a standard K-BKZ constitutive model used in the numerical simulations. Accurate predictions of MWD confirm the completeness of frequency range in the oscillatory shear experimental data. In turn, the wholeness of relaxation spectra as substantiated by MWD predictions, sustain the level of confidence when using constitutive models based on these spectra. We demonstrate the importance of using the full range of relaxation spectrum rather than a short range around typical shear rates for the accuracy of the numerical predictions. We found extrudate swell ratio (ESR) to be strongly dependent on MWD and stress conditions at the die exit.

Cite this publication as follows:
Nithi-Uthai N, Manas-Zloczower I: Numerical Studies of the Effect of Constitutive Model Parameters as Reflecting Polymer Molecular Structure on Extrudate Swell, Appl. Rheol. 12 (2002) 252.


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