Cause and effect in time dependent flow of thermoplastic melts—a review

The factors leading to time dependnt variations of melt viscosity during capillary extrusion of thermoplastics are reviewed. An initial increase in melt viscosity has been attributed to melt elasticity while three mechanisms are cited to account for a subsequent drop in melt viscosity, which may or may not attain a steady‐state value. These are frictional heational heating of the melt, increasing shear stress as the viscometer reservoir empties, and cain orientation. The relative importance of the mechanisms is examined for various melts and the importance of time effects is discussed in terms of their influence on standard flow evaluations, such as the melt index determination.