Modeling of Non-Isothermal Polymer Melt Flow in a Conical Annular Channel of a Disk Extruder

Purpose. The homogenization zone consists of various channels with different configurations, for each of which it is necessary to determine the passage of the melt flow process, and on its basis - the velocity fields, which determine the quality of mixing and distribution of components in the melt. To ensure a flexible and controllable homogenization process with the possibility of improving the quality of the melt, it is necessary to study the flow processes in the channels of a disk extruder. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to perform hydrodynamic modeling of processes during melt flow in a conical channel. Methodology. To achieve this goal, we propose a methodology for determining the flow processes in a conical channel, and find out which zones are convenient to consider in a special conical orthogonal coordinate system. For this purpose, the change in the radial coordinate , which has the same meaning in both the straight and the conical gap, was described - it is a coordinate along the width of the gap. This makes it possible to further apply this coordinate for the width of the disk gap - between the moving and stationary disks. Findings. A method has been proposed that describes the flow processes in the conical channel of the homogenization zone of a disk extruder. The calculation procedure is presented in an analytical form, and graphical dependences of the distribution of tangential and longitudinal velocities and shear velocities of the melt flow along the width of the annular channel at the nominal and maximum disk speeds and at the nominal and maximum disk gap are also given. Originality. For the first time, a methodology for calculating the conical channel of the homogenization zone of a disk extruder is presented, which describes the flow processes in a conical orthogonal coordinate system, which allows taking into account the common coordinate for the entire homogenization zone. The general procedure for calculating the channels of the homogenization zone has been supplemented. Practical value. The procedure for calculating the channels of the homogenization zone, which was started earlier, was extended and applied to the flow in a conical annular channel. This coordinate allows us to describe the flow processes along the width of the channel for all channels of the homogenization zone of a disk extruder, which greatly simplifies the calculations. Important results of hydrodynamic and thermal processes were obtained for the annular channel, which makes it possible to design disk extruders with greater accuracy and calculate their optimal operating modes.