Rheologica Acta, Vol.37, No.3, 289-298, 1998
Steady shear viscosity of short fibre suspensions in thermoplastics
The rheological behaviour of a polyethylene, two polyamides and a silicone oil filled with different fibre contents are studied in capillary rheometry. The viscosity increase induced by the fibres is important for the silicone oil, and negligible for the polyethylene. The polyamide is intermediate. The same classification stands for the pressure loss in the convergent channel upstream from the capillary. A constitutive equation based on a cell model which takes into account the shear-thinning behaviour of the matrix is built. The predictions of the model are in correct agreement with the measurements.
Keywords:FIBER-REINFORCED THERMOPLASTICS;FLOW RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES;ORIENTATION BEHAVIOR;MELTS;PARTICLES;STRESS;POLYPROPYLENE;EQUATION;MOTION;FLUIDS