Numerical study of the effect of flow rate and temperature on parison swell and sag in extrusion

Swell and sag drawdown significantly influence the high density polyethylene parison. Numerical simulations of the flow field of a HDPE melt were performed using the finite element method for the die of plastic pipe extrusion and parison formation. The constitutive equation of Carreau law was used to describe the polymer melt in the flow domain. The distributions of the velocity, shear rate, viscosity, pressure, thickness and radius are presented with Polyflow. The effect of flow rate and temperature on extrusion swell and parison sag was investigated. The results show that the thickness of the parison increases with increasing flow rate. The thickness and radius of the parison are more sensitive to changes in flow rates than to changes in temperatures.