| Abstract: | The flow of polymer melts through the clearance over a barrier flight in extruders involves high, rapidly changing shear rates. Polymer melts, being viscoelastic, are expected to exhibit a high elasticity when they flow through the clearance, so the flow through the clearance may not be predictable or stable. The flow through the clearance over a barrier flight was investigated using a shear refining (SR) module connected to an extruder. Three polymers with different melt properties were tested: branched low density polyethylene (BLDPE), high‐density polyethylene (HDPE), and polystyrene (PS). The measured drag flow rate through the clearance was found to be equal to the prediction for a purely viscous fluid, which gives a linear velocity profile in the clearance. At the threshold rotor speed of the SR module whereupon the predicted drag flow rate through the clearance is the same as the extruder output rate, the melt pressures at the inlet and the outlet of the SR module were nearly equal and stable. Below the threshold rotor speed, the inlet pressure was higher than the outlet pressure. Above the threshold rotor speed, the inlet pressure was nearly zero and the outlet pressure fluctuated. The magnitude of the pressure fluctuation increased with increasing rotor speed and decreased with increasing melt temperature. HDPE, which had a higher melt elasticity, showed more pressure fluctuation than BLDPE and PS. The pressure fluctuation probably results from the flow instability through the clearance caused by the melt elasticity. |
