Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 2127

Analysis of a melting model for an extruder with reciprocation

K.L. Yung*, Yan Xu
Department of Manufacturing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Received 28 January 2000

Abstract
Recent advances in plastic material have beneted from a more optimal design of the injector for screw inline plastic injection molding.
The analysis of mass ow in the injection screw is similar to that of an extruder with a reciprocating effect. However, although there is
extensive use of the plastic injection molding machine in industry, most studies have been on extruders, which are simpler to model. This
paper studies the melting process and derives its transient model for accurate prediction of the most important characteristics of the
reciprocating extruder. Based on this transient model, factors affecting the melting speed in reciprocating extruders are identied. These
include the screw rotation speed, the screw axial movement speed, the barrel thickness, the barrel heat capacity, the temperature of heater
and polymer, the parameters of the polymer, etc.
The model derived was used to simulate parameters measured by Donovan. Some phenomena observed by Donovan in his experiments
were explained, which also established that this model gives an accurate description of the injector dynamics. Based on this model, it is
shown that a lower rotation speed and a longer rotating time improves the quality of the end products. Moreover, the heat capacity of the
barrel affects the transient process of melting in the way that the thinner the barrel or the lower, the better is the heat capacity.
# 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Reciprocating extruder; Transient process; Melting

1. Introduction
With the availability of many CAE techniques, there has
been substantial improvement in plastic mold design. However, the optimization of machine design with respect to
plastic injection is equally important for quality plastic parts,
but attracts less technological breakthrough.
Up to now, many of the studies on the inline injection
process take the simpler route of an extruder. This oversimplication of the inline injection process leaves out the
most important aspect of reciprocation, which changes the
process model from steady extrusion to that of a discontinuous process. This may be the reason why there has been
very little study on the optimizing of the design of plastic
injection assembly. Donovan et al. [1] did some experiments
with reciprocating extruders, but he used a steady-state
model in his works [2] which cannot give an explanation
to some phenomena he observed. Rauwendaal [3,4] studied
the effects of axial screw movement on solids and melt
conveying in reciprocating extruders. Dormeier et al. [5]
briey discussed the melting process when the screw stops in
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: 852-2766-6592; fax: 852-2362-5267.
E-mail address: mfklyung@polyu.edu.hk (K.L. Yung).

a reciprocating extruder. No known studies exist for modeling the transient melting process when the screw is rotating
(the feeding stage).
In a typical reciprocating extrusion cycle, rst the screw
is in the forward position in the barrel, then the screw begins
to rotate (screw recharge), conveying plastic material forward and developing a pressure ahead of the screw. This
pressure forces the screw back to the desired volume of the
molded part. The screw is then idle in the back position
while the previously molded plastic cools down in the mold
and the mold is opened and the part ejected. After the mold
closes again, the screw is forced forwards by hydraulic
pressure, causing the newly recharged shot at the head of
the screw to ow into the empty mold. A valve, such as a
check ring, prevents back-ow during injection. The screw
then maintains the pressure on the molded plastic for a
specic time (the holding time). This completes the cycle
(see Figs. 1 and 2).
Hence the injection cycle can be divided into three stages:
the feeding (the screw rotating and moving backwards), stop
(no screw movement), and injecting (the screw moving
forwards without rotation). The screw itself is normally
divided into three parts: solid conveying, melting and melt
conveying.

0924-0136/01/$ see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 1 ) 0 1 0 9 9 - 8

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K.L. Yung, Y. Xu / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 2127

Fig. 1. The cycle of reciprocating extrusion.

Fig. 3. Velocity diagram.

In this analysis, emphasis will be placed on the melting

process at the feeding stage, which is the most dynamic part
of the cycle time.
2. Velocity relationship in feeding stage
During the feeding stage, the screw rotates and moves
backwards. The barrel velocity relative to the screw vb is the
combination of the tangential barrel velocity vbt and the axial
barrel velocity vba. The angle a between vba and vbt is
determined from
tan a

vba
vbt

(1)

The solid bed velocity vsz is in the down-channel direction

given by flight angle y. The relative velocity between the
solid bed and the barrel, vj , is determined by the vectorial
difference between the barrel velocity vb and the solid bed
velocity vsz (see Fig. 3):
~
vj ~
vb ~
vsz
q
v2b v2sz 2vb vsz cosy a
j~
vj j

(2)
(3)

The solids conveying angle f is the angle between vj and vb .

It can be seen easily from the above equation that the axial
movement of barrel vba decreases the value of vj . Consequently, the viscous diffusive heat in the melting section
produced by a reciprocating extruder is less than that
produced in an extrusion extruder for the same rotation
speed.
To analyze the transient melting problem, a transient heattransfer model is important. To simplify the problem, the

heat transfer in the extruder is divided into two parts: from

the heater to the interface of the barrel and polymer, and
from barrelpolymer interface to inside the polymer, to
cause the melting.
3. Heat transfer from heater to inner side of barrel
In this section, rst the heat transfer from the heater to the
inner barrel is analyzed. Suppose that the barrel is a slab
(Fig. 4) and there are heat uxes across surface A and
surface B which are proportional to the temperature differences between the surface and the surrounding medium. It
had been analyzed [6] that when the heater temperature is
periodic, the polymer temperature is constant: the temperature on surface B will also be periodic, and there will be a
``time lag'' during the propagation of heat from outer surface
A to inner surface B. The relationship between the time lag
and the barrel heat capacity (as well as the barrel thickness)
is exponential.
When unheated polymer is being moved into the heating
area, the problem becomes that of changing polymer temperature and constant heater temperature initially at Tb0 . The
temperature at surfaces A and B will decrease with time until
it reaches steady state. The following expression is used to
describe the decrease in temperature:
Tb z; t Tst z Tb0 z

Tst z e

At

(4)

where z is the polymer moving direction, Tb the temperature

at surface B, Tb0 the temperature at surface B before new
polymer enters, and Tst the steady-state temperature when
t ! 1. The coefficient A will be affected by the barrel

Fig. 2. Stages in a cycle of reciprocating extrusion.

K.L. Yung, Y. Xu / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 2127

Fig. 4. Simplified structure.

thickness and barrel heat capacity: the greater the value of

barrel thickness and heat capacity, the less is the value of A.
In steady state, temperature at surface B will have a prole
in the direction of z:
Tst z Tend Ts0

Tend e

Bz

(5)

where Ts0 is the temperature at z 0 at the start point of

entering the heating area, Tend the temperature when z ! 1.
Coefficient B will depend on the relative velocity of the
polymer and the screw, the barrel thickness and the barrel
heat capacity: the higher the relative velocity, the smaller is
the value of B.
When the relative velocity Vbsz 0, the steady-state
temperature will be
Tst0 z Tend

(6)

The transient temperature when Vbsz 0 is

Tb z; t Tend Tb0

At

Tend e

thus B / A=Vbsz .
During the stop stage just before the screw starts to rotate,
there is no relative movement between the screw and the
barrel. The temperature at surface B will be
Tb z; t Tend Tstop

Tend e

Ct

where Tstop is the temperature at the start point of the stop.

Tb z; t will increase with time. Supposing that the stop time
is t0, the temperature at surface B at the end of the stop (at the
beginning of rotation) is
Tb0 z Tend Tstop

Tend e

Ct0

When the screw is rotating, the temperature at surface B will

be (suppose B kA=Vbsz ) (from Eqs. (4) and (5)):
Tb z; t Tst z Tb0 z
Tend Ts0
Tend

Tst z e

Tend e

Tb0 z e

kAz=Vbsz

At

At

At

that Tadmore and Klein's model [7] still stands for the
feeding stage of the reciprocating extruder, most of the
melting occurs at the interface of the melt lm and the
solid bed. The height of the melt lm does not increase
and the solid bed is continuously rearranged while maintaining a constant height (in the case of no compression).
In effect, this rearrangement causes the solid inside the
screw to continuously move into the interface where it
melts. Consequently, the width of the solid bed is gradually
decreasing as it moves down the channel, as shown in
Fig. 5.
The simplied one-dimensional heat-transfer mode is
illustrated in Fig. 6. Heat conducted out of the meltsolid
interface into the moving solid (given that the movement and
temperature gradient are constant) is Qsolid:

@TS 
Qsolid KS
(8)
@y y0
whilst heat conducted into the meltsolid interface is
Qmb:

@Tm 
(9)
Qmb Km
@y y0
The energy balance equation is
Qmb

Qsolid Vsy trs l

(7)

(10)

where Vsy t is the velocity of the solid that moves towards

the meltsolid interface.
The transient melting speed is: XVsy trs , where X is
the width of the solid. Vsy can be used as a measure of
the rate of melting. While in steady state, Vsy is constant in the coordinates of the screw in reciprocating
extruders.
Suppose the polymer solid is a slab with innite thickness and that the heat absorbed from the interface Qsolid is
constant. The time-dependent effect of the melting rate will
depend on the time-dependent Qmb t.
5. Transient melting model
The temperature at the interface of the barrel and the melt
y d is
Tb z; t Tend Ts0
Tend

23

Tend e

Tb0 z e

At

kAz=Vbsz

At

(11)

whilst the temperature at the meltsolid interface of the

polymer y 0 is
(12)

T0; t Tm
4. Heat transfer in the melting film

Assuming that the initial temperature distribution in melt

film is

In the second part of the analysis, heat transfer in the polymer and melting is dealt with. Working on the assumption

Ty; 0 Tm Tb0

Tm

y
d

(13)

24

K.L. Yung, Y. Xu / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 2127

Fig. 5. The melting process.

where Tm < Tb0 < Tend , the following equations result:

@Ty; t
@ 2 Ty; t
a
U0 ;
@t
@y2
T0; t Tm ;
Td; t Tend Tend Ts0 e
y
Ty; 0 Tm Tb0 Tm ;
d

0 < y < d; t > 0;

kAz=vbsz

At

Tend

Tb 0 e

where U0 is the viscous diffusive heat per unit time caused

by relative movement between the barrel and the solid bed
divided by the density and specific heat of the melt. Assuming that the viscosity is constant, the velocity profile in the
melt film is linear. Therefore, at an individual fixed point in

At

t > 0;
; t > 0;

(14)

0<y<d
the coordinates of the screw, U0 is constant when the rotating
speed is constant.
U0

mvj 2 =rm
Cm

Let


Tm

uy; t Ty; t
 1

At

 
y
Tend Ts0
d

Tend

Then
@Ty; t @uy; t  y

Tend
@t
@t
d
Tend Tb0 A e At
2

Fig. 6. Simplified one-dimensional model.

@ Ty; t @ uy; t

@y2
@y2

Tb0 e

At

Ts0 e

Tend e kAz=Vbsz

Tm
(15)

kAz=Vbsz

(16)
(17)

K.L. Yung, Y. Xu / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 2127

25

Substituting (16), (17) into (14) which leads to

@uy; t
@ 2 uy; t
y
a
U0 Tend
@t
@y2
d
u0; t 0;
ud; t 0;
uy; 0 0;

Ts0 e

kAz=Vbsz

Tend

Tb0 A e

At

where
Ts 0 e

kAz=Vbsz

(18)

t > 0;
t > 0;

Let

y
f y; t U0
Tend
d

t > 0;

Tend

Tb0 A e

At

fn t

(19)

2
d

Z
0

f y; t sin

npy
2U0
1
dy
d
np

2 1n Tend

Then, Eq. (18) becomes

@uy; t
@ 2 uy; t
a
f y; t;
@t
@y2
u0; t 0;
ud; t 0;
uy; 0 0;
uy; t

1
X

un t sin

npy

n1

0<y<d

(20)

npy
dy
d
0
1
npy
@uy; t X

Vn t sin
@t
d
n1
2
d

uy; t sin

(21)

(22)
(23)

where
Z

npy
@uy; t
sin
dy
@t
d
0
1
npy
@ 2 uy; t X

W
t
sin
n
@y2
d
n1
2
Vn t
d

(24)
(25)

where by Green's second identity

Z
npy
2 d @ 2 uy; t
sin
Wn t
dy
d 0
@y2
d
Z
npy
2 d np2
uy; t sin

dy
d 0 d
d

npyd
2 @uy; t npy np

sin
uy; t cos


d
@y
d
d
d
0
np2

un t ln un t
(26)
d
f y; t

1
X
n1

fn t sin

npy
d

np

Tend

Tb0 A e

At

(28)

Vn t

aWn t fn t

(29)

Therefore

where
un t

kAz=Vbsz

From (5), we obtain

t > 0;
t > 0;
t > 0;

Ts0 e

1n

(27)

dun t
aln un t fn t
dt
with the initial condition
Z
npy
2 d
un 0
uy; 0 sin
dy 0
d 0
d

(30)

(31)

where un t can be obtained from (14) and (15):

1
npy
X
un t sin
uy; t
; 0<y<d
(32)
d
n1

y
Ty; t uy; t Tm
Tend Ts0 Tend e kAz=Vbsz
d

At
At
 1 e Tend Tb0 z e
Tm
(33)
1
np
npy
@uy; t X

un t
cos
@y
d
d
n1

@Ty; t @uy; t 1

Tend Tm Tend Ts0 e

@y
@y
d
At
 1 e Tend Tb0 e At

@Ty; t
Qmb t Km
@y y0

(34)
kAz=Vbsz

(35)
(36)

The dimensionless time-dependent Qmb t is Qmb t:


Qmb t=Km
@uy; t
d
Qmb t


@y y0 Tend Tm
Tend Tm =d

Tend Ts0 kAz=Vbsz
1
e
1 e At
Tend Tm

Tend Tb0 z At
e
(37)
Tend Tm

26

K.L. Yung, Y. Xu / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 2127

The above equation is the model representing the relationships between the time-dependent melting rate and other
parameters in reciprocating extruders.
6. Further discussions
The relationships between Qmb and time t at different
rotation speed N and coefcient A with the parameters listed
in Table 1 are shown in Figs. 7(a) and 8.
When taking into account the dependence of viscosity
on temperature and shear rate, a numerical methods have to
be used in the calculation. Applying the power-law uid
with temperature-dependent viscosity in modeling, different
relationships between Qmb and time t at different rotation
speed N are obtained as shown in Fig. 7(b), which is similar
to Fig. 7(a). The representation of viscosity used in the

Fig. 8. Relationship between Qmb and t for different values of coefficient

A N 22:5 rpm.

calculation is
Table 1
Parameters used in the calculations (polyethylene)
Property

mg; T m0 exp

Value
2

Diffusivity, a (m /s)
Ts0 (K)
Tend (K)
Tm (K)
Tb0 (K)
z (m)
Coefficient, K
Viscosity, m (N s/m2)
Melt film thickness, d (m)
Density, rm (kg/m3)
Specific heat, Cm (J/(kg K))
Inner barrel diameter, D (m)
Helix angle, y (8)

1.9710
300
450
380
420
4
1
200
1.0810
750
2300
0.083
18

 
E 1
R T

1
T0



gn

where m0 104 Pa s, n 0:3, E 2:9  104 J mol 1 , and

T0 404 K.
It can be seen that Qmb will decrease as time t increases.
Thus, the rate of melting will also decrease when the screw
starts to rotate from the stop stage. This coincides with the
phenomena observed by Rauwendaal [3] in his experiments,
that the melting rate is maximum at the starting point of
rotating, decreasing afterwards until steady state is reached.
When the rotating speed (Vbt) increases and assuming that
the pressure ahead of the screw is constant, the relative
velocity between the screw and the solid bed (Vbsz) will also
increase, the relative velocity between the barrel and the
solid Vj also increasing. The increase of Vbsz causes Qmb to
increase, while the increase of Vj causes Qmb to decrease. It

Fig. 7. (a) Relationship between rotation speed N and Qmb (A 0:02). (b) Relationship between rotation speed N and Qmb (A 0:02) (result from numerical
method).

K.L. Yung, Y. Xu / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 117 (2001) 2127

has been deduced that the relative velocity between the solid
bed and the barrel Vj is less for a reciprocating extruder than
for an extrusion extruder because of the axial movement, the
increase of Qb caused by increase of Vj being limited.
Normally, the decrease of Qmb caused by increase of Vbsz
over-runs the increase of Qmb caused by increase of Vj for
low viscous polymers such as LDPE, poly(vinyl acetate),
Nylon 6, polycarbonate, etc.
From Fig. 7, Qb is shown to be decreasing more sharply as
time advances for a faster rotation speed N. This induces a
sharper decrease of Vsy, which explains why the higher the
rotation speed, the more apparent the difference of the
melting rate at the starting point of rotation and at the
end of rotation as observed by Rauwendaal [3].
The steady-state Qmb for a xed value of z decreases as the
rotation speed increases (see Fig. 7). This will cause longer
melting length, and poorer melting may result. Thus for
better product quality, the rotation speed should be as low as
possible and rotation time should be just long enough to
obtain the amount of mass ow.
From Fig. 8, it can be seen that the less the value of
coefcient A, the longer is the time that it will take to reach
steady state. Thus, the barrel heat capacity should be high
and the barrel thickness should be small to minimize this
transient effect.
7. Conclusions
The axial movement of the screw and the short rotation
time make reciprocating extruders totally different from
simple extruders because of transient effects. In this paper,
a transient melting model for a reciprocating extruder has
been developed. The effects of screw rotating speed, barrel
thickness and barrel heat capacity on the melting rate is
explained by the model, the predictions of the model comparing favorably with real life observations.

27

The model has further shown that a higher screw rotation

speed may cause a greater melting length inside the screw
and make the difference of melting rate at the start of
rotation and the end of rotation more apparent. The model
has contributed to the understanding that the rotation speed
should be as low as possible, as long as it does not affect the
conveyance of resin.
It is further deduced that barrels of thicker and higher heat
capacity may cause stronger transient effects (a longer time
to reach steady state), hence thinner barrels of less heat
capacity will give better product quality.
Acknowledgements
This work was fully supported by a grant from the
Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. Polyu5143/98E).
References
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plasticating in a reciprocating-screw injection molding machine,
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[2] R.C. Donovan, A theoretical melting model for plastic extruders,
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[3] C. Rauwendaal, Melt conveying in reciprocating extruders, in:
Proceedings of the Annual Technical Conference of ANTEC, 1991,
pp. 433435.
[4] C. Rauwendaal, Conveying and melting in screw extruders with axial
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