Pressure drop through tapered dies

A simple method is presented for calculating the pressure drop for the flow of power law liquids in dies with a wide slit profile and with vertical and/or lateral tapers, as well as in dies with the shape of a circular truncated right cone. Tapered dies are known to give improved extrudate quality and/or higher output rates without encountering extrudate defects which occur in dies with parallel channels at similar extrusion pressures. A possible ultimate optimization of the extrusion process—as far as die design is concerned—is discussed. It is suggested that this be based upon an extension of the method from dies with a rectilinear convergent taper to dies with a curvilinearly converging channel aspect the generation of which latter is indicated.