When a sinusoidal vibration was superimposed in parallel on the flow direction of a polymer melt being extruded through a capillary, the shear stress and shear rate of the polymer melt were analysed with a constant velocity type dynamic rheometer of capillary (CVDRC) devised by the authors. By measuring the instantaneous data of capillary entry pressure, capillary volume flux (or absolute velocity of piston rod) and their phase difference in a vibrating force field, it was found that the relationship between the pulsating amplitude value coefficient of entry pressure and that of volumetric flowrate was an approximate power series; the wall shear stress and wall shear rate of low density polyethylene (LDPE) melt extruded dynamically under various amplitudes and frequencies also exhibited a non-linear proportional relationship.

Abstract. Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) was ram extruded using a temperature window effect. The extrusion pressure abruptly drops at a very narrow extrusion temperature window which is about 10°C higher than the theoretical melting point of orthorhombic polyethylene crystals under quiescent and equilibrium states. The correlation between extrusion pressure and parameters such as extrusion temperature, annealing condition, thermal history, piston velocity, L/D ratio of the die, and molecular weight of UHMWPE, was studied. The temperature window increases with molecular weight and is unaffected by thermal history and annealing. The stable extrusion pressure and the critical piston velocity decrease with the rise in the extrusion temperature. The flow resistance reversely depends on the L/D ratio of the die. This phenomenon is attributed to an extensional flow-induced chain alignment along the streamline, which results in the formation of a metastable mesophase with higher chain mobility.

With superimposing a sine vibration of displacement on the extruding direction of a polymer melt, the characterization formula of the shear rate of a polymer melt within a capillary was set up. By making use of the experimental equipment of a constant velocity type dynamic rheometer of capillary (CVDRC) designed by the authors, the calculating steps of the shear rate of the polymer melt at the wall of the capillary under a vibration force field were established. Through measuring and analyzing the instantaneous data of capillary entry pressure, capillary volume rate, and their phase-difference under the superimposed vibration, the polymer melt's shear rate at the wall of the capillary can thus be calculated.

The mathematical model for the shear stress in a polymer melt within a capillary was set up by superimposing a sine vibration of small amplitude in parallel with the extruding direction of the polymer melt. By making use of experimental equipment of the constant velocity type dynamic rheometer of capillary (CVDRC), designed by the authors, the steps required to calculate the shear stress in the polymer melt at the inside wall of the capillary under a vibration force field were also established. By measuring the instantaneous data of capillary entry pressure, capillary volume rate and their phase-difference under a superimposed vibration, the shear stress of the polymer melt at the wall of the capillary can be calculated.

No abstract