화학공학소재연구정보센터
Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol.38, No.4, 644-656, 1998
Multiscale model for polymer crystallization. II : Solidification of a macroscopic part
In part I of this paper, we presented two efficient front tracking methods to simulate the growth of a spherulite within an imposed temperature field. In this second part we present a method that predicts the final microstructure in a macroscopic part by coupling these front-tracking techniques with (a) a stochastic model for the nucleation of individual spherulites, (b) a cellular model for spherulite impingement and solid fraction evolution and (c) a Finite Difference Method (FDM) for latent heat release and heat diffusion. The method tracks the physical phenomena on several length scales : a coarse grid for the heat diffusion, a fine grid for solid fraction evolution and a very fine grid for the shape of the individual spherulites and the lamellae within them. To our knowledge this is the first time that a fully coupled multiscale model has been applied to the solidification of polymers which gives realistic microstructure evolution, orientation of the different lamellae within spherulites and maps of the solid fraction and temperature fields during solidification. The model provides us with a quantitative predictive tool that can be used to optimize industrial processes.