Tube flow of a particulate‐filled thermosetting polymer

The conservation equations of momentum, energy, and mass are numerically solved for the flow of filled thermosets reacting In a tube. The flow is assumed to be laminar and adiabatic with a constant volumetric flow rate. The critical radii are parameters that define the processability limits. The lower one is the value of the radius where an undesirable advance in the reaction extent takes place at the wall or where viscous heating leads to degradation. The upper critical radius is the radius where wall velocity is low and gelation takes place. The effects of filler volumetric fraction, wall slip velocity, and different inlet conditions are taken into account. Increasing wall slip velocity or filler fraction and decreasing inlet temperature or tube length amplify the processability zone.