Extrudate swell and defects under the effect of radial flow and die geometry

The present paper aims to investigate the phenomenon of extrudate swells of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) during extrusion. This study contributes to understanding how radial flow, and in particular gap width, influences the initiation and growth of linear PDMS extruded swelling. To accomplish this, we consider implementing a capillary rheometer that imposes a radial flow upstream of the extrusion die. Images from the experiment demonstrate that the die swell seems more pronounced for both long and short dies with a high radial flow gap than it does for small gaps. In addition, we notice that, for a given gap, an increase in the length-to-diameter ratio reduces the extrudate swell. The findings explore the interplay between the elasticity of PDMS, the energy stored during the flow, and the memory effect on the final diameter of the extruded material.