• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.1 s.244
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• pp.32-41
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• 2006

We analyzed the non-Newtonian and non-isothermal flow in the melt conveying zone in co-rotating and counter-rotating screw extruder system with the commercial code, STAR-CD, and compared the mixing performance with respect to screw speed and rotating direction. The viscosity of fluid was described by power-law model. The dynamics of mixing was studied numerically by tracking the motion of particles in a twin screw extruder system. The extent of mixing was characterized in terms of the residence time distribution and average strain. The results showed that high screw speed decreases the residence time but increases the shear rate. Therefore higher screw speed increases the strain and has better mixing performance. Counter-rotating screw extruder system and co-rotating screw extruder has the similar shear rate with the same screw speed in spite of different rotating direction. However, the counter-rotating screw has good mixing performance, which is resulted from longer residence time than that of co-rotating screw extruder.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.153-160
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• 2006

We analyzed the non-Newtonian and non-isothermal flow with Carreau-Yasuda viscosity model in co-rotating and counter-rotating twin screw extruder systems. The mixing performances with respect to the screw speed, the screw pitch, and the rotating direction have been investigated. The dynamics of mixing was studied numerically by tracking the motions of particles. The extent of mixing was characterized in terms of the deformation rate, the residence time distribution, and the average strain. The results showed that the high screw speed decreases the residence time but increases the deformation rate. Small screw pitch increases the residence time. It is concluded that the high screw speed increases the dispersive mixing performance, while the small screw pitch increases the distributive mixing performance. Co-rotating screw extruder has the better conveying performance and the distributive mixing performance than counter-rotating screw extruder with the same screw speed and pitch. Co-rotating screw extruder developed faster transport velocity and it is advantageous the flow characteristics to the mixing that transfers polymer melt from one barrel to the other barrel.