Extrudate Swell of High Density Polyethylenes in Slit (Flat) Dies

Extrudate swell of industrial-grade high-molecular mass high-density polyethylenes (HDPEs) in flat/slit dies is studied using both experiments and simulations. The experimental set-up consists of an optical micrometer to measure the extrudate dimensions and a pair of radiation heaters to control the extrudate temperature outside the die attached to the capillary rheometer. The simulation of extrudate swell phenomenon is carried out by using a well-known integral K-BKZ model. The effects of several rheological characteristics, die characteristics, and processing conditions on swell measurements are studied systematically, and the corresponding two-dimensional, steady-state numerical predictions are presented in this paper. This study includes the effects of polymer molecular characteristics, apparent shear rate, die geometrical characteristics (length to die gap (L/H) and width to die gap (W/H)), and distance from the die exit. It is found that the integral K-BKZ model predicts well both the width and thickness extrudate swells. Extrudate swell measurements demonstrate that the thickness swell is predominant in comparison with width swell.