Linear low density polyethylenes and their blends: Part 2. Shear flow of LLDPE's

Abstract

AbstractThe steady state and dynamic shear behavior of eleven commercial linear low density polyethylenes (LLDPE) and one low density polyethylene (LDPE) resin were measured in capillary and parallel plate geometries at T = 150 to 230°C. The extrudate swell and the Bagley correction were determined. A large pressure effect on capillary flow of narrow molecular weight distribution LLDPE was observed and a new corrective procedure was proposed. After the correction the steady state viscosity was found to be equal to the dynamic (not complex) viscosity: η(\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \dot \gamma $\end{document}) = η'(ω = \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \dot \gamma $\end{document}). A newly proposed four parameter relation between η and the deformation rate was found to provide a simple means for computation of the zero shear viscosity, ηo, and the primary relaxation time. Both these parameters showed a high degree of correlation. The expected relation: ηo ∝︁ Mw3.4 was observed for low molecular weight samples with low polydispersity. The LLDPE activation energy of flow, Eσ=29.9 ± 1.8 kJ/mole, was determined.