Lubrication and slip flow during extrusion of plasticized PVC compounds in the presence of lead stabilizer

Abstract

The main point of interest when discussing lubrication is to understand what lubricants do in a compound, particularly during processing. Among lubricants, we can find metal soaps, which are often heat stabilizers of PVC. In order to study the influence of lubricants on the flow properties, it is of particular interest to analyse the behaviour of the material at the die walls, where slip may be observed. Then, in the present paper, the lubricating ability of a lead stabilizer during extrusion of a plasticized PVC formulation was investigated through an instrumented die, which allowed us to have the apparent flow properties at the wall. Rough and smooth surfaces of the die were used in order to prevent or promote slip at the metal surface. From this method, it was possible to observe the slip phenomenon above a critical concentration, whereas the analysis of the die surface through SEM coupled energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy shows that lead stabilizer migrates even at low concentration. So, slip occurs when the lubricant layer forms a continuous solid layer which modifies the polymer–metal interface properties.