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Design and optimization of an extrusion die for the production of wood–plastic composite profiles
Author(s) -
Gonçalves N.D.,
Teixeira P.,
Ferrás L.L.,
Afonso A.M.,
Nóbrega J.M.,
Carneiro O.S.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.24024
Subject(s) - extrusion , die (integrated circuit) , rheology , wood plastic composite , materials science , composite number , flow (mathematics) , composite material , material flow , viscosity , mechanical engineering , mechanics , engineering , physics , ecology , biology , nanotechnology
In this work, the optimization of an extrusion die designed for the production of a wood–plastic composite (WPC) decking profile is investigated. The optimization was performed with the help of numerical tools, more precisely, by solving the continuity and momentum conservation equations that govern such flow, and aiming to balance properly the flow distribution at the extrusion die flow channel outlet. To capture the rheological behavior of the material, we used a Bird‐Carreau model with parameters obtained from a fit to the (shear viscosity versus shear‐rate) experimental data, collected from rheological tests. To yield a balanced output flow, several numerical runs were performed by adjusting the flow restriction at different regions of the flow‐channel parallel zone cross‐section. The simulations were compared with the experimental results and an excellent qualitative agreement was obtained, allowing, in this way, to attain a good balancing of the output flow and emphasizing the advantages of using numerical tools to aid the design of profile extrusion dies. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:1849ߝ1855, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers