Abstract
The present work focuses on the extensional rheometry test, performed with the Sentmanat extensional rheometer (SER) device, and its main objectives are: (i) to establish the modelling requirements, such as the geometry of the computational domain, initial and boundary conditions, appropriate case setup, and (ii) to investigate the effect of self-induced errors, namely on the sample dimensions and test temperature, on the extensional viscosity obtained through the extensional rheometry tests. The definition of the modelling setup also comprised the selection of the appropriate mesh refinement level to model the process and the conclusion that gravity can be neglected without affecting the numerical predictions. The subsequent study allowed us to conclude that the errors on the sample dimensions have similar effects, originating differences on the extensional viscosity proportional to the induced variations. On the other hand, errors of a similar order of magnitude on the test temperature promote a significant difference in the predicted extensional viscosity.
Highlights
Polymeric products are widely used in different application areas such as medical, packaging, civil construction, commodities, energy, etc., playing a crucial role in our daily life
The interFoam and interIsoFoam solvers follow the volume of fluid (VOF) method [49], the most popular variant of the interface capturing approaches [48,49,50], which correspond to an Eulerian approach
The time covered in the numerical case study was not enough to reach the referred steady-state conditions. These results show that inertia might affect extensional rheometry tests, which should be analysed in detail in future works
Summary
Polymeric products are widely used in different application areas such as medical, packaging, civil construction, commodities, energy, etc., playing a crucial role in our daily life. The Filament-Stretching Rheometer (FSR) is another alternative platform presented by Mckinley and Sridhar [20] that aims at both facilitating the measurement process and increasing the accuracy of the measurements In this platform, the sample is placed between circular endplates, and the required extensional rate is imposed by the relative motion of these plates. The extensional flow measurement methodology and data analysis in the SER were studied by Aho et al [34] These authors claimed that mounting samples onto the drums without clamping the system, using a pre-heating stage prior to the actual test, and correcting the sample dimensions in the final data (considering the sample expansion phenomenon promoted by heating) is essential to achieve accurate results. In order to obtain more insights about the SER platform and its operation, the work of Sentmanat et al [21] is advised
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
