3-D Comsol Analysis of Extruder Dies

Three-dimensional flow analysis was performed by using COMSOL Multiphysics chemical module for the propose of analyzing the flow properties and finding out the operating points of a test domain .The test domain chosen was the exact replica of the die within the Arcada laboratory where the maximum output of the extruder screw was predetermined. Using material property table for an exemplary melt of LDPE obtained from borealis Ltd., the logarithmic viscosity-shear rate graph was plotted and fitted to the 4-constant modified Careau constitutive flow model for numerical analysis of the viscosity. The parametric solving method was chosen with reasonable pressure values to help with the convergence of the iteration. The resulting velocity, pressure and shear rate profiles within several cross-sections of the die were obtained as a contour plots. These computed results were then compared to both the theoretical and experimental findings. The comparison suggested that the software is able to estimate the flow domain effectively and can be used to compute operational points for any profile die flow domain.