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Effects of diatomite on extrudate swell behavior of polypropylene composite melts
Author(s) -
Liang J. Z.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.32435
Subject(s) - die swell , materials science , composite material , polypropylene , composite number , swell , volume fraction , extrusion , filler (materials) , melt flow index , polymer , thermodynamics , physics , copolymer
Extrudate swell (i.e., die swell) is an important parameter for characterization of melt elasticity during extrusion of polymeric melts, and die swell ratio ( B ) is usually used to describe quantitatively the melt swell degree. The B of the polypropylene (PP) composites filled with diatomite particles was measured by means of a melt flow rate instrument to investigate the effects of the filler content and size on the die swell behavior of the composite system melts under the experimental conditions with temperature from 210 to 230°C and load varying from 1.2 to 7.5 kg. The particle diameters were 5, 7, and 13 μm, and the filler volume fractions were 5, 10, and 15%, respectively. The results showed that the B of the composites decreased nonlinearly with an increase of the filler volume fraction, whereas it increased as a quadratic function with an increase of the particle diameter when the load and temperature were fixed. It might be attributed to the interaction between the inclusions and the matrix, leading to blocking the recovery of the elastic deformation as the composite melts left from the die exit. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010