10/26/2015

Polymer Processing PE-4104

Lecture 02,03,04
Parameters for Feedstock

Lecture Overview
Important characteristics for feedstock
Hygroscopicity
Granule characteristics
Thermal Properties
Thermal Stability
Processing Temperature
Cooling rate

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Consideration of Important factors for

feed stock
The important factors or characteristics that must be
considered are
-

Hygroscopicity
Sizes and shapes of the feed granules
Thermal properties
Flow properties or rheology
Crystallization tendencies
Orientation and Shrinkage

Hygroscopicity
It will allow a polymer compound to incorporate
moisture with it.
If moisture is at the surface of the granules it can be
removed by low temperature drying.
Removal becomes difficult if the moisture is absorbed
within the mass.
When such raw material is processed, it will turn into
steam and would remain trapped in the viscous
polymer melt.
Bubbles of steam would expand on decompression
and would create voids in the processes polymer.

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Hygroscopicity
These bubbles will flattened into thread like form
during processing and defect would appear on the
surface of final product.
Tolerance level of water or moisture content in a
polymer compound depends upon processing
temperature.
- Higher the temperature, lower is the tolerance
- Lower the temperature, higher could be the tolerance.

Tg and Tm of Various Thermoplastics

Tg of Amorphous Thermoplastics

Tm of Semi-crystalline Thermoplastics

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Granules Characteristics
During melt-processing, the heat required for melting
the granules can be supplied externally or internally
External supplies includes
- Heating coils
- Or Electrical heating bands situated outside the barrel

Internal heating
- Mechanical working on material that generates frictional
heat
- High frequency heating (Dielectric heating)

Granules Characteristics
Whatever the mean of heating supply, granule sizes
and shapes plays an important role
If feed consists of different sizes of granules
- Then each granule would take different time to get fluxed
- Smaller sizes of granules would melt quicker than the
larger
- Adjusting the processing time would be very difficult.

If the time is fixed according to the smaller granules

- Smaller granules would attain fluidity
- Larger granules would be still unmolten or semi-molten

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Granules Characteristics
If time is fixed according to larger granules
- Larger granules will melt and attain fluidity
- Smaller ones would be of very low viscosity fluid or even
become volatile.

Average particle size is not a solution in polymer

processing
It is desirable to have uniform granule sizes
- In order to have uniform and homogeneous characteristics of
the processed item

Solution
- Polymers are granulated in a special granulator
- Thin ribbon are extruded and subsequently cooled and cut into
forms called spaghetti -cut

Thermal Properties of Polymers

Thermal properties such as
- Specific heat
Dictates the amount of heat needed for processing

- Conductivity
The amount of heat required is related to thermal

conductivity

- Viscosity
The amount of heat is also related to the melt viscosity of the

specific polymer

Polymers by nature are bad conductor of heat

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Thermal Properties of Polymers

For external heating the amount of heat received by
the material would depend upon
- Thermal conductivity

For internal heating the amount of heat received

depends upon
- Viscosity of the material
- Rate of mechanical working

Greater the viscosity or mechanical work, greater

would be the heat generated.

Thermal Stability
An important property that has to be taken into
consideration is the Thermal Stability
- How stable is the compound at elevated temperatures (In
the presence as well as in the absence of oxygen)
- How thermal instability affect the properties
- What are the degeneration products, if any
- Any parts of the machinery or any additive is acting as a
catalyst in degeneration process

PVC does not remain stable at its processing

temperature which is >2000C.
Above 2000C PVC begins to degrade with the evolution
of HCl gas

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Processing Temperature
We have to reduce the processing temperature, this
could be achieved by
- Addition of Plasticizer

Viscosity is a function of temperature

Melt viscosity is a function of (T-Tg)
- This is the reason of differences between viscosities of
different polymers at the processing temperatures

Increase in temperature and decrease in pressure

lowers the viscosity
- Due to increase in the free volume in both the cases

Cooling rates
Thermal properties are also related to the rate of
cooling of a polymer from its processing temperature.
Rate of cooling in amorphous polymers depends upon
- Difference between processing temperature Tp and the
mold temperature Tc which is (Tp-Tc)
- Glass Transition temperature, Tg
- Average specific heat over the temperature range (Tp-Tg)

For Crystalline polymers the cooling rate depends

upon
- Difference between processing temperature Tp and the
mold temperature Tc which is (Tp-Tc)
- Crystalline melting point, Tm

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Effects of Cooling rate

For crystalline polymers
- The latent heat of fusion of the crystalline material
- Average specific heat over the temperature range of (TpTm)

Cooling rate affect the properties of the finished

products in more than one ways
Polymer molecules under thermal stress, begins to
relax on cooling.
- If solidification comes before relaxation (Quenching)
Polymer chains would freeze while still in the process of being

arranging themselves

- There would be no uniformity in the orientation of the

chains

Effect of cooling rate

The cooled mass would show anisotropic properties
The rate of cooling also effect crystalline structure of
the polymer
If solidification comes after relaxation of polymeric
chains (Annealing)
- Isotropic properties
- For semi-crystalline polymer crystalline structure would
build
- No residual stresses in the chains

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Summary
Tolerance of moisture content depends upon the
processing temperature.
Average particle size of granules is not good for final
product
Polymers are bad conductor of heat
Suitable processing additives are required to process
polymer under their processing temperature to avoid
degeneration
Cooling rate dictates the type of properties and
structure of end product
- Slow cooling rate= Good mechanical properties, Isotropic
- Fast cooling rate= Bad mechanical properties, Anisotropic