Professional Documents
Culture Documents
39
Effect of Wall Slip on the Uniformity of Flow from Sheeting Extrusion Dies
Chung-Ching Huang
Department of Mould Engineering, National Kaohsiung Institute of Technology, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China
A b s t r a c t : A theoretical study for analyzing the uniformity of flow from sheeting extrusion dies is presented. In this study it is assume that a slip condition exists at the wall of the die, the magnitude of slip velocity is proportional to the shear stress at the wall, the flow is isothermal and steady state, and a power law model is valid for viscosity. Two extrusion dies, T-dies and coat-hanger dies, are examined. The flow uniformity at the exit of the die is calculated and compared with that for a nonslip analysis. The discrepancies between the slip and nonslip models imply that the wall slip condition induces a significant nonuniform flow distribution. Traditional design criticism based on the nonslip model are invalid for flow with the wall slip condition, and it is necessary to increase the length of the die land to even the flow distribution at the exit of the die. Keywords: Wall slip, Uniformity, Sheeting extrusion die, Power-low fluid.
Introduction
T-dies and coat-hanger dies are the most widely used dies to extrude polymer films and sheets [1]. These dies, shown in Figure 1, usually consist of two basic components - the manifold and the slit region (i.e., preland and die land). T-die has a manifold that stays constant in area along the width of the die. The manifold cross-section can be circular or tear drop shape. The slit region is made of two parallel plates; its length is the same from the middle of the die to the ends and the gap is much small than the manifold radius. Coat-hanger die has a manifold that decreases in area along the width of the die. In order to compen-
2Qo [ Jl /manifold R
die land
~-
2w
(b) Coat-Hangerdie
"f
sate for the flow resistance within the manifold, the length of slit is longer in the middle of the die compared those at to the ends. This restricts the flow in the middle of the die and forces the polymer melt to distribute uniformly across the width. Typically polymer melt enters the die in the middle through an entrance hole and spreads over the width of the die through the manifold. The primary objective of die design is to yield the greatest throughput at the least pressure drop and to limit the extrudate within specified dimensional tolerances (i.e., uniform thickness), Therefore it is necessary to design die dimensions adequately and to analyze the flow distribution within the die under different material properties and operating conditions. During the last twenty years, a large quantity of literature on the flow through T-dies and coat-hanger dies has been published. Most study models concerning die design are limited to one-dimensional flow of power-law fluids [2-12]. The main assumptions of these models are that the flow through the manifold can be separated into two independent components: one along itself and the other into the slit region. In each component the classical lubrication approximation analysis is applied. The flow in the manifold section is treated as a flow in a circular pipe, whereas flow in the slit region is treated as a flow between two parallel plates. Although this description is not precise, it may be practicable because of its simplicity and little computation effort. The more realistic ap-
40
proaches, such as the two-dimensional flow analysis [13, 14] and the three-dimensional flow analysis [15-18], can result in improved predictions, particularly for irregular regions or sharp corners that exist inside the dies, but they invariably require more complex preprocessing and greater computational expansion. In the published literature, the flow velocity at the solid boundary is assumed to be zero, i.e., the nonslip condition. But the assumption of nonslip at the solid boundary is generally invalid for rheologically complex fluids, such as polymer melts and concentrated polymer solutions, when certain critical conditions are exceeded in flow-through conduits [1924]. For example in the experimental results of Ramamurthy on linear low-density polyethylene (LDPE), as the wall shear stress exceeds a critical value of approximately 0.1-0.14 MPa, wall slip occurs [20]. Although the mechanism involved in slip is unclear, according to the experimental data of Ramamurthy and of Jiang et al. [21 ], the slip velocity is described as a function of the wall shear stress. Yoshimura demonstrated this slip model with the dynamic oscillatory measurements and presented a new technique for Couette and parallel disk viscometers to identify the relationship between the slip velocity and the wall shear stress [22, 23]. Flow analysis for polymer melts involving wall slip is scarce; Thien [24] has studied the influence of wall slip on extrudate swell, in which the function of slip velocity was obtained through a curve fit from extensive data of reference 20. His results showed that wall slip decreased both the die swell ratio and the critrical Weissenberg number. The thermal entrance problem involving wall slip was studied by Sbih and coworkers [25, 26], and they obtained an analytic solution of temperature by expanding the temperature in a series of solutions. Here we analyze the flow of power-law fluids inside T-dies and coat-hanger dies and investigate the influence of wall slip on the flow uniformity. The model is based on the one-dimensional flow, and the slip velocity at the wall is assumed to be proportional to the wall shear stress. The proportional coefficient is defined as slip coefficient 13. The critical value of wall shear stress described in reference 20 is regarded as zero here for simplification..
manifold radius decreases along the width of the die. For power-law fluids the optimum variation of manifold radius under nonslip condition was derived {9]: R(y) =((2h)2"+1 r w(3n+l) sin~ L2 / t ( 2 n + 1)
]n)3nIl
(1
y
)
3nnl
(I)
where R 0 is the manifold radius at the center of the die (y = 0), and n is flow index. Equation (I) is the necessary and sufficient condition to ensure uniform flow distribution across the die width in the linearly tapered coat-hanger die. By symmetry, we limit the flow analysis to half the die. The flow problem can be stated as follows: a steady laminar flow of isothermal, incompressible polymer melts flow through the die, with the entrance and end effects neglected. The rheological properties of polymer melts are described by power-law model in which the viscosity is expressed as
n = K l ~ , r -~
(3)
The particular boundary condition in this paper is that a slip velocity, Vs, exists at the wall of the die, its magnitude is assumed to be proportional to the wall shear stress, "c0~,i.e.
v~ = [3~
(4)
Althrough this simple slip model may be too imprecise to describe the real mechanism of a slip model, it enables assessment of some influences of the wall slip condition on the flow behavior inside the die. The wall shear stress in the circular manifold is written:
"kv=
R dp 2 d7
(5)
Mathematic Model
Figures l(a) and l(b) show the geometry of T-die and coat-hanger die respectively. In the T-die, the manifold is a cylindrical channel with constant circular cross-section. The die land is a slit region which has constant gap. In the coat-hanger die, the
in which ~ is the axial direction of the manifold. In the slit the wall shear stress is ~w= - h d~ (6)
Since the assumption of one-dimensional flow is applied. Equation (6) can be integrated
41
hp %=T
in which p is the pressure in the manifold (i.e., entrance of the slit region) and the pressure at the exit of the die is atmospheric, 1 is the length of the slit. As the wall slip condition is considered, the pressure drop/flow rate relationship in the manifold is derived: nR 3+ m dp m Q = ~R2Vs + ~ [~K (-d~-)] in which m = 1 . The wall slip condition used to derive Equation (8) is r = R , v =V~ (9) (8)
13
p=P P0
(15)
here Po and Ro are the pressure and the radius at y = 0 respectively. In addition, the dimensional parameters of the extrusion die and axial coordinates are also normalized with R o, i.e.
w Y=~oo w=RTo
R* R _ z
(16)
In the slit region the flow is restricted in the xdirection, the flow rate per unit width q is derived q=2hV~+~
2h 2+ m
t(1)(
) ]m
(10)
Then we obtain after substituting Eqs.(15) and (16) into Equation (13) [ n13*R*3cs ~ /rmR .3 +mcosm0~ d P ) m - 1 ] d2p 2 + 2~73-+m) (-~ "dY = + 3nR*2~*cos cz dR* dP ~ ( ~- ) ~7tR.2 + mcosm(x 2m
The wall slip condition used to derive Equation (10) is z = h , ag=V s (11)
Since the loss of Q along the manifold is equal to the flow rate entering the slit, we have dQ dyq (12)
Substituting Equations (8)-(10) into Equation (12), and together with Equations (4)-(7), we obtain n13R3cos ~ mnR 3+ m cosmc~ dp ) m - 1 9 2 (2K)m (3 + m ) ( - d - y ] d ~2 3xR2cos tx dR dp 2 ( ~ - ) dy (-~ nR 2+ mcosmo~ dR (2K) m (~-)
2 h 2+m p m
} (18)
dR* The derivative term ~ - expresses the variation of manifold radius along the width direction. For T-die, the magnitude of dR* is zero, whereas for coat-
dp )m
=2h~P+(27~Km(T)
(13)
(I_Y)
3+m
(19)
y = 0 , P=P0 /
y_-w :0J
(14)
Equations (17) and (18) form the mathematical model that describes the pressure distribution in the manifold under the consideration of wall slip effect. This model is a nonlinear ordinary differential equation for a given flow index n and geometric parameters. We can solve this model by the standard finite-different
42
m e t h o d c o m b i n e d with the N e w t o n - R a p h s o n method. O n c e P is calculated, the flow rate d i s t r i b u t i o n q(y) can be o b t a i n e d from E q u a t i o n (10). In order to d e s c r i b e the flow rate d i s t r i b u t i o n q u a n t i t a t i v e l y , we also c a l c u l a t e the flow u n i f o r m i t y , UI, defined in the following equation
l.O0
0.95
.o
i=l '2
0.90
here qi r e p r e s e n t s the flow rate at the ith node, N is the total n u m b e r o f n o d e s used for calculation, and qave is the a v e r a g e value of q for the w h o l e width. W h e n the flow rate d i s t r i b u t i o n is perfectly u n i f o r m across the die width, the value o f UI is equal to one, and the d i s t r i b u t i o n b e c o m e s worse as the value of UI decreases.
0.85
0.80
) 0.0
I 0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
Flow index n F i g u r e 3. U n i f o r m i t y vs flow index for p o w e r - l a w fluids in the Tdie with H = 0.05, W = 50, Lo = 25.
Discussion
W e first i n v e s t i g a t e the flow of p o w e r - l a w fluids in a T - d i e with H = 0.05, W = 50, and the length of the die land is 25. Figure 2 shows the flow rate distribution at the exit o f the T-die. The flow index is 0.5. The flow rate d i s t r i b u t i o n for the case of n o n s l i p ([3* = 0) is more even than that for the case of slip ( [3* ~: 0). As wall slip occurs, the flow d i s t r i b u t i o n will be uneven. T h e flow rate near the die c e n t e r (y = 0) h i g h e r than that die ends. As [3* b e c o m e s larger, the flow distrib u t i o n will be more u n e v e n . W h e r e a s the i n f l u e n c e of wall slip appears to be s l o w e r as 13" increases to a larger value. Figure 3 plots the flow u n i f o r m i t y UI as a f u n c t i o n of flow index for various values of [3*. For the case of nonslip, the value of UI d e c r e a s e s with d e c r e a s i n g value of n, this implies that the s h e a r t h i n n i n g property of p o l y m e r melts induces a n o n u n i form efflux obviously. For the case of slip, there s h o w s an i n t e r e s t i n g and s i g n i f i c i a n t result that while n b e c o m e s smaller, the m a g n i t u d e of UI for all cases ([3* = 0.001, 0.01, 0.1) will a p p r o a c h to a c o n s t a n t with the value near 0.95. If we enlarge the die width while the gap and length of the die land are fixed to the v a l u e of 0.05 and 50 respectively, the flow distribution at the exit b e c o m e s more u n e v e n , as expected. T h e m a g n i t u d e of UI as a f u n c t i o n of die w i d t h are plotted in Figure 4. It can be seen that as the die width increases, the UI for all cases decreases. This implies that l o n g e r die land is n e e d e d to e n s u r e the u n i f o r m flow d i s t r i b u t i o n for the w i d e r T-die. Figure 5 s h o w s the required length of the die land that can regulate the d e v i a t i o n of flow d i s t r i b u t i o n within _+5 % across die width. Since the effect of wall slip m a k e a n o n u n i f o r m d i s t r i b u t i o n of flow rate, the required length of the die land for the case of slip is longer than that for the case of nonslip. As the value of 13" increases, the required l e n g t h of the die land increases too. Secondly, W e i n v e s t i g a t e the flow of p o w e r - l a w fluids in a c o a t - h a n g e r die with the same d i m e n s i o n of gap and width (i.e., H = 0.05, W = 50), and the length of the die land is zero. A c c o r d i n g to E q u a t i o n (1), the o p t i m u m c o a t - h a n g e r angle, ct, that ensures the uniform flow d i s t r i b u t i o n at the exit, is a f u n c t i o n of flow index. As n = 0.5, the o p t i m u m value of cx is 1.8 . F i g u r e 6 shows the flow rate d i s t r i b u t i o n for powerlaw fluids with n = 0.5 at the exit of the c o a t - h a n g e r
1.20
1.15
p,
1.10
\\///0.001
q/qa,,e 1.05
1.00
0.95
0.90 0
10
20
30
40
50
Dimensionless width direction F i g u r e 2. F l o w rate d i s t r i b u t i o n for p o w e r law fluids with n = 0.5 in the T - d i e with H = 0.05, W = 50, L0 = 25.
43
1.00
0.95
2.5
2.0 0.90
",
0.01
0.85 0.80
N
q/qave
\\//,
1.5
o oo,
1.0 0.75
0.70 10
I 30
I I 50
I 70
I I 1 I [ 90 110 130
0.5
Figure 4.
0.0 0
Uniformity vs. dimensionless die width for power-law fluids with n = 0.5 in the T-die with H = 0.05, L0 = 25.
I 10
I 20
I 30
I 40
i 50
Dimensionless width direction Figure 6, Flow rate distribution for power law fluids with n = 0.5 in the coat-hanger die with a manifold designed by Equation (1) and H=0.05, W=50, a= 1.8,L0=0.
60 50 -40 30 2O I0 0
50
40
o.ool ~ " S / /
p*= 0.I .
30
ooi
20 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 10 I I i ~ 10 20 1 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Dimensionless die width 2W I 100
Figure 5.
Dimensionless length of die land needed to uniform the flow of power-law fluids with n = 0.5 in the T-die with H = 0.05.
0 0
die. Since the design formula is based on the nonslip model (Equation (1)), the curve for 13" = 0 is very even across the die width. As wall slip occurs, the flow distribution becomes uneven rapidly and obviously. The flow rate near the die center (y = 0) is higher than those at die ends. As I~* becomes across, the flow distribution will be more uneven. Comparing the curves in Figure 2 and the curves in Figure 6, we observe that the effect of wall slip on the flow distribution in the coat-hanger die is more evident than that in the T-die. Adding to the die land will improve flow uniformities, and the required length of the die land
Figure 7, Dimensionless length of die land needed to uniform the flow of power-law fluids with n = 0.5 in the coat-hanger die with h = 0.05.
that can even the flow distribution under the effect of wall slip is shown in Figure 7. For the wider die, the required length of the die land is longer. In Figure 7, we also find that when the dimensionless die width is smaller than 20, die land is not necessary and the effect of wall slip is less obvious. We also investigate the applicability of coat-hanger die. The coat-hanger die designed on the basis ofn = 0.5 is used to extrudate polymer melts which has other values of n. Figure 8
44
1.0
Cofincil of the Republic of China for financial aid through the project NSC 83-0117-C-151-003-E.
0.8
Nomenclature
H h K
0.6
0.4
I / I- /
~'0.o~ ~ 0.ool
0.2 Lo
0.0
1
0,2 0.4 0.6 Flow index n 0.8 1.0
nl n
dimensionless half of the slit gap defined according to Equation (16) half of the slit gap parameter of the power-law fluid defined according to Equtaion (3) dimensionless length of the slit defined according to Equtaion (16) dimensionless length of the die land length of the slit
1
n
P
F i g u r e 8. U n i f o r m i t y vs flow index for p o w e r - l a w fluids in the c a n t - h a n g e r die with H = 0.05, W = 50, ot = 18 .
P Po
Q0
plots the uniformity as a function of flow index for various values of 13". The interesting observation is that the UI curves for all cases are similar to the shape of a mountain. At the vertex, the value of U l i s n e a r 1 and the flow distribution is very uniform. For the curve of [3 = 0, the vertex appears at the point of n= 0.5. This is because the n = 0.5 is the design condition. When n is not equal to 0.5, UI decreases and the flow distribution becomes uneven. This means that the die designed for a specified polymer melts is not appropriate for others. For the cases of slip, the vertex shifts toward the larger value of n with increasing value of 13". q qave R(y) R0 R*
V
V~ W
VV
X
X
Conclusion
The flow of power-law fluids in the sheeting extrusion dies under the consideration of wall slip has been investigated. The flow distribution and uniformity are calculated for both of slip and nonslip models. The results show that as the wall slip occurs, the flow distribution becomes uneven and the value of UI decreases. For the wider die, the effect of wall slip on the flow uniformity is stronger. Therefore, the extrusion dies designed according to the traditional nonslip model is not appropriate for an extrusion flow with slip velocity. Hence it is more necessary to increase the length of the die land to even the flow distribution. Y Z
flow index of a power-law fluids dimensionless pressure defined according to Equation (15) pressure pressure at the entrance half of the total flow rate flow rate per unit width average value of q for the whole width manifold radius manifold radius at the entrance dimensionless monifold radius defined according to Equation (16) velocity in the machine direction slip velocity at the wall dimensionless half of the die width defined according to Equation (16) half of the die width dimensionless x-coordinate defined according to Equtaion (16) coordinate x-coordinate dimensionless y-coordinate defined according to Equation (16) y-coordinate dimensionless z-coordinate defined according to Equtaion (16) z-coordinate Symbols coat-hanger angle slip coefficient shear rate power law viscosity wall shear stress
References
1. W. Michaeli, Extrusion Dies, Hanser, New York, 1989. 2. J. F. Carley, J. Appl. Phys., 25, 1118 (1954). 3. K. Ito, Japan Plast., 2, 35 (1968). 4. J. M. Mckelvey and K. Ito, Polym. Eng. Sci., 11, 258
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank the National Science
45
(1971). 5. Z. Tadmor and C. G. Gogos, Principles of Polymer Processing, Wiley, New York, 1979. 6. Y. Matsubara, Polym. Eng. Sci., 19, 169 (1979). 7. Y. Matsubara, Polym. Eng. Sci., 20, 212 (1980). 8. Y. Matsubara, Polym. Eng. Sci., 20, 716 (1980). 9. Y. Matsubara, Polym. Eng. Sci., 23, 17 (1983). 10. H. H. Winter and H. G. Fritz, Polym. Eng. Sci., 26, 543 (1986). 11. T. J. Liu, C. N. Hong, and K. C. Chen, Polym. Eng. Sci., 28, 1517 (1988). 12. K. Y. Lee and T. J. Liu, Polym. Eng. Sci., 29, 1066 (1989). 13. B. Vergnes, P. Saillard, and J. F. Agassant, Polym. Eng. Sci., 24, 980 (1984). 14. B. Arpin and P. G. Lafleur, Polym. Eng. Sci., 32, 206 (1992). 15. Y. Wang, Polym. Eng. Sci., 31,204 (1991). 16. Y. Wang, H. Y. Tsay, Plastics, Rubber and Composites Processing and Applications, 19, 93 (1993). 17. Y. Wang, C. C. Huang, and S. Y. Tsay, Plastics, Rubber