Rheology of Highly Filled Polymers

Abstract

In many applications and/or manufacturing processes, highly filled polymers are necessary. One of these fields is powder metallurgy, where polymers or polymer mixtures are used to enable the shaping process within the production of the parts. Metal and also ceramic powders are mixed with different polymeric substances with a powder content of more than 50 vol%. Within the production, this mixture, called feedstock, has to flow into the final shape. Thus, for a proper understanding of the production processes, fundamental knowledge on the flow behavior of the feedstocks is required. For the rheology of polymers, several techniques together with the proper equipment are available. In the case of high viscosities, rotational and high-pressure capillary rheometers (HPCRs) are used. To gain reliable data, a proper measurement procedure is essential, which means that the operator has to have a deeper physical understanding of the material and the effects arising during the measurements. Therefore, this chapter gives an insight into rotational and high-pressure capillary rheometry with special emphasis on the behavior of polymers highly filled with stiff particles. Based thereon important remarks on the measurement equipment, procedure and evaluation of the measured data are provided.