Mold flows and melt viscosities of an incompatible bi‐component EPDM and “Viton” fluoroelastormer system were examined. A marked reduction in the melt viscosities of either component was observed when a small amount of the other component was present. It was speculated that the phenomenon was a result of a slippage between the polymer and the coated capillary surface due to the presence of a minor amount of the incompatible polymer. Evidence is given to indicate that this effect cannot be accounted for using the “melt structural heterogeneity” mechanism proposed for a different system by Andtrianova.

This study reports on the progression of processes occurring in polymer blends during mixing. For the polymer pellet blends studied, an abrupt phase inversion was observed simultaneous with attainment of maximum torque in the batch mixer. A four‐step phase inversion mechanism is described as predominant where dissipative mix‐melting of the polymer system occurred in the mixing process.

By means of new probe design and rapid data acquisition, we have succeeded in in‐line ultrasonic monitoring of residence time distribution (RTD) at the melting, mixing, and pumping zones as well as at the die exit of a Werner & Pfleiderer 30‐mm twin‐screw extruder by mounting the ultrasonic probes on the extruder barrel over the screw elements and at the die. The experimental systems were LDPE, CaCO3‐filled LDPE, and a Kraton/LDPE blend. The ultrasonic data at each of the extruder functional zones are presented. The ultrasonic results have been used to evaluate an opical RTD measurement method by using an optical sensor side by side with one ultrasonic probe at the mixing zone of the extruder. The comparison of the ultrasonic and optical results has shown that the presented ultrasonic technique could be a good complement to the optical technique in the monitoring and understanding of RTD during polymer extrusion processes.