A study of novel viscous dissipation measurement for polymer melts in microchannels

Abstract

Studies on the rheological behaviour of polymer melts, flowing through microchannels, are complicated because a large number of factors affect the melt viscosity. One such factor, viscous dissipation, is investigated in the current work through a novel experimental technique that is used in determining the viscous dissipation of a polymer melt flowing through microchannels. Relative tests are conducted using melts of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) extruded through several capillary dies at different temperatures. Experimental results indicate that the temperature rises due to viscous dissipation increase with increasing shear rate. In addition, simulations considering viscous dissipation are carried out. The comparison of the experimental results with those predicted from the simulations at different melt temperatures indicates that the maximum temperature rise deviation is about 15 per cent. Therefore, the measurement method of viscous dissipation is available, which is helpful to better understand the flow characteristics of microchannels.