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Experimental analysis of the influence of pellet shape on single screw extrusion
Author(s) -
Längauer Manuel,
Liu Keyan,
Kneidinger Christian,
Schaffler Gernot,
Purgleitner Bianca,
Zitzenbacher Gernot
Publication year - 2015
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.41716
Subject(s) - pellet , extrusion , plastics extrusion , pellets , materials science , polypropylene , barrel (horology) , composite material , polymer , volumetric flow rate , mass flow rate , melt flow index , die (integrated circuit) , extrusion moulding , mechanics , nanotechnology , physics , copolymer
Extrusion technology is one of the most prominent methods for processing polymers. The shape of polymer pellets plays an important role in conveying solid material through the extruder and thus directly influences the mass flow rate. In the course of this article, the influence of the pellet shape of a polypropylene homopolymer on the processing conditions using a smooth barrel single‐screw extruder is evaluated. Especially the mass flow rate, the melt temperature, and the pressure build up in the barrel are investigated. It can be shown that processing long cylindrical pellets leads to a higher mass flow rate than comparable experiments with virgin pellets or short cylinders. Additionally, screw cool and pull‐out tests, measurements of the external coefficient of friction as well as the bulk density of the different pellet geometries are performed. The interaction of the screw geometry and the pellet shape is found to have the biggest influence. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 41716.