Measurement and modelling of wall friction in the ram extrusion of stiff microcrystalline cellulose-based pastes

Abstract

Simulation of paste extrusion requires knowledge of the material–wall interactions and bulk deformation behaviour. A systematic approach to decoupling these is presented for a stiff paste, comprising microcrystalline cellulose/calcium carbonate/water, employing three different experimental configurations to separate paste-wall friction from bulk rheology. The bulk yielding behaviour was identified from ram extrusion testing with orifice dies, while wall friction was characterised using the twin-die extrusion apparatus reported by Bryan et al. [1]. Further extrusion tests with square and conical entry dies featuring various die land lengths provided data for comparison with simulations. The wall friction exhibited non-linear Navier slip with negligible pressure dependency: this relationship was included within a solid mechanics-based simulation of ram extrusion with ABAQUS. The estimate of the plastic yield stress from orifice die testing was refined using simulations of flow through square-entry dies and predicted the extrusion pressure for conical-entry dies with reasonable accuracy.