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01/16/2024 - 01/16/2024 | Online

Numerical simulation and experimental validation of twin-screw compounding of PLA and PBS blends

The morphology of thermoplastic blends is a major factor in governing their mechanical properties. Thus, the morphology development of thermoplastic blends during twin-screw compounding is an area of prime interest in polymer industry. Therefore, the aim of the study, which will be presented in the expert session, was to correlate simulated process data of twin-screw compounding with experimentally found morphologies of blends from biobased polylactide (PLA) and polybutylene succinate (PBS).

The morphology of thermoplastic blends is a major factor in governing their mechanical properties. Thus, the morphology development of thermoplastic blends during twin-screw compounding is an area of prime interest in polymer industry.

Therefore, the aim of the study was to correlate simulated process data of twin-screw compounding with experimentally found morphologies of blends from biobased Polylactide (PLA) and Polybutylene Succinate (PBS). Numerical simulation of the mixing process of a lab-scale twin-screw extruder was done with ANSYS Polyflow software for various blend compositions and screw speeds.

As a result, a maximum local shear rate of 2041 1/s was found for the highest simulated screw speed of 400 1/min for the PLA/PBS-20/80 blend in the dispersive mixing section of the screw. Interestingly, no significant influence of the blend composition on maximum local shear rate but on maximum local shear stress was found. An increasing content of PBS led to an increase in maximum local shear stress with its peak at 212 MPa for the PLA/PBS-50/50 blend. Further increase in PBS content led to a reduced maximum local shear stress, indicating a co-continuous morphology at equal content of PLA and PBS in the blend.

Subsequently, the resulting values of the maximum local shear stress for each blend were used to calculate the capillary number and to predict the droplet breakup according to the Grace model. The experimental validation of the numerical simulations was done by dead-stop compounding experiments and morphological analysis of blend samples along the screw by Scanning Electron Microscopy.

In result, a good correlation of the predicted particle breakup by numerical simulations and the capillary number approach and the experimentally found particle diameters was found for all studied blend ratios and screw speeds. Thus, the studied workflow could help to reduce the needed numbers of experiments to adjust the morphology and properties of PLA/PBS blends.

Information on participating / attending:
The expert session is part of our Materials Insights 23 | 24 series in which we introduce some of the latest highlights of our research focused on current and future needs in industry. Each session provides a 20 minute presentation from one of our experts and 20 minutes of discussion with the interested parties from industry and science.

Participation is free, registration is required.

Date:

01/16/2024 14:00 - 01/16/2024 14:45

Registration deadline:

01/16/2024

Event venue:

Online
06120 Online
Sachsen-Anhalt
Germany

Target group:

all interested persons

Relevance:

international

Subject areas:

Environment / ecology, Materials sciences, Mathematics, Physics / astronomy

Types of events:

Presentation / colloquium / lecture, Seminar / workshop / discussion

Entry:

12/20/2023

Sender/author:

Susann Dohmhardt

Department:

Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

Event is free:

yes

Language of the text:

English

URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event75903


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