Jte20120161 DL.000389308 1

A. M.
Mertz,
1
A. W. Mix,
1
H. M. Baek,
1
and A. J. Giacomin
2
Understanding Melt Index and ASTM D1238
REFERENCE: Mertz, A. M., Mix, A. W., Baek, H. M., and Giacomin, A. J., Understanding Melt Index and ASTM D1238, Journal of Test-
ing and Evaluation, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2013, pp. 113, doi:10.1520/JTE20120161. ISSN 0090-3973.
ABSTRACT: In plastics manufacturing, the melt ow index (MFI) is used as a routine indicator of rheological behavior when more expensive
and laborious determinations of well-dened material functions are impractical. The MFI is the mass ow rate in a pressure driven ow through a
standardized abrupt cylindrical contraction into a short tube performed under a standardized combination of pressure drop and temperature. In this
paper, we use a nite element model to explore the connections between rheological properties and melt index. We explore the role of shear
thinning by modeling the ow through the melt indexer using the Bird-Carreau model. We then explore the role of melt viscoelasticity in the MFI
using the corotational Maxwell model. We present our results in dimensionless charts designed to help plastics engineers specify the MFI of a
plastic for an industrial manufacturing process of known material functions. Worked examples are included to show how to use the results.
KEYWORDS: melt index, melt ow index, melt ow rate, ASTM D1238, corotational Maxwell model, Bird-Carreau model
Introduction
The melt ow index is a test rst proposed as a means of materials
characterization [1]. The melt ow index is the mass ow rate of a
polymer melt _ m through a standardized geometry at a standardized
temperature T and under a standardized weight W. Figure 1
(cf. Figure 2 of ASTM D1238-10 [2]) shows that the ASTM
standardized geometry for a melt ow index measured following
Procedure A (see Section 9 of ASTM D1238-10 [2]) is an abrupt
(~5:1) contraction from a cylindrical barrel into a short capillary
(L=D 4). The standardized temperature and weight depend
upon the type of polymer and are chosen from Table 3 of ASTM
D1238-10 [2]. To properly report the melt ow rate (MFR), we
must therefore attach condition T/W chosen from that table to
the measured MFR in grams per 10 min (see Section 8.1 of
ASTM D1238-10 [2]). For example, MFR 2.40 condition 190/
2.16 means a melt index of 2.40 g/10 min at T = 190
C and
under a test load of W = 2:16 kg. Though normally called the
melt ow index (MFI) (or simply the melt index), this test has
been standardized as the MFR (see Note 22 of ASTM D1238-10
[2]). As a complex ow for routinely characterizing polymer
melts, the MFI has gained great popularity in the plastics industry
(see Section 3.3.2 in Ref 3, Section 7.2 of Ref 4, Section 4.4.1 of
Ref 5, Figure II.2 and Sections 6.26 and 8.4 of Ref 6, and Section
3.2.1 of Ref 7), and for particular families of polymers, the MFI
has even been correlated with certain linear viscoelastic properties
[8] (Section 4.5 of Ref 9) or with certain features of molecular
structures (see the end of Section 2.6.7. of Ref 10; see also Refs
40 and 41.).
FIG. 1Melt ow indexer.
Manuscript received May 12, 2012; accepted for publication July 5, 2012;
published online December 11, 2012.
1
Rheology Research Center and Mechanical Engineering Dept., Univ. of
Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1572.
2
Rheology Research Center and Mechanical Engineering Dept., Univ. of
Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1572, e-mail: giacomin@wisc.edu
Copyright VC
2012 by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959. 1
Journal of Testing and Evaluation, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2013
Available online at www.astm.org
doi:10.1520/JTE20120161

Copyright by ASTM Int'l (all rights reserved); Fri Jan 25 12:25:52 EST 2013
Downloaded/printed by
Univ+Of+Wisconsin-Madison pursuant to License Agreement. No further reproductions authorized.
We dene the contraction ratio as
c =
D
b
D
c
(1)
and for the MFI, c = 4:55:
Table 1 classies the literature on modeling the ow through a
melt index, including both analytical models and nite element com-
putations, and Table 2 summarizes the literature on MFI
measurement (see also Refs 26 and 27 for review papers on MFI
measurement). In this paper we use nite element modeling of the
contraction ow through a melt indexer to investigate what goes on
in a melt indexer following Procedure A (see Section 9 of ASTM
D1238-10 [2]). We begin the analysis with the Bird Carreau model,
a generalized Newtonian uid. This allows us to explore the role of
shear thinning while neglecting viscoelasticity. We then explore the
role of melt memory in MFI by using the corotational Maxwell
model. We explore the detailed shapes of the vortices surrounding
the contraction into the capillary. We further explore the pressure
prole in the barrel, through the contraction and then through the die.
Most importantly, we explore the roles of Newtonian viscosity, shear
thinning, and melt memory in the mass ow rate which is measured
and then reported in the melt index experiment.
Whereas our nite element calculations yield the volumetric
ow rate Q, the MFI is the measured mass ow rate _ m. These are
related as follows:
_ m = qQ (2)
Thus, our nite element calculations can be compared only to meas-
ured values of the melt index to within the accuracy of the melt den-
sity q. So the melt index is just a measured mass ow rate through a
melt indexer evaluated under a particular pair of standard conditions.
MFR = _ m[
T;W
(3)
Combining Eq 2 with Eq 3,
MFR = Q[
T;W
q(T) (4)
in which q(T) is a weak nearly linear function of temperature (see
Section 3.1.3 of Ref 28).
Because rheological properties depend on temperature, this
limits the usefulness of our isothermal analyses to small tempera-
ture rises. By this, in dimensionless terms, we mean
Na 1 (5)
in which Na is the NahmeGrifth number and depends upon the
temperature sensitivity of the viscosity dl=dT.
Na = D_ c
a
dl=dT [ [
k
_
(6)
where:
_ c
a
=
32Q
pD
3
(7)
Q =
MFI
q
(8)
with MFI = [ [g=10 min. Substituting Eqs 7 and 8 into Eq 6,
Na =
32MFI
dg
0
=dT [ [=k
_
pD
2
q
(9)
Equation 9 represents the NahmeGrifth number in terms of the
MFI so that plastics engineers can easily estimate the magnitude
of thermal effects on their MFI test. Generally, Na 1 for the
melt indexer.
Finite Element Simulation
Finite element simulations of the melt ow indexer were
conducted using the commercial software ANSYS POLYFLOW,
version 12.1 [29]. This is an implementation of the numerical
TABLE 1Melt ow index modeling literature.
Constitutive Model Solution Method Property Inferred Reference
Longworth (1965) N A g
0
[11]
Wortberg and Menges (1977) N A g
0
[12]
Rohlng and Janzen (1997) CY A g
E
[13]
Barrera et al. (2006) K-BKZ FEM DSR [14]
Mertz (2012) N, PL, BC, CM A, FEM g
0
[42]
This paper N, PL, BC, CM A, FEM g
0
Notes: A, analytical; BC, Bird-Carreau; CM, corotational Maxwell; CY, Carreau-Yasuda; DSR, die swell ratio; FEM, nite element method; K-BKZ, Kaye-Bernstein
Kearsley Zapas; N, Newtonian; PL, power law; g
0
, zero shear viscosity.
FIG. 2Orthomorphic sketch of the boundary conditions for Bird-Carreau
model simulations (left) and viscoelastic simulations (right). p
0
is given by
Eq 16.
2 JOURNAL OF TESTING AND EVALUATION
methods developed by Crochet at Universite Catholique de
Louvain in Belgium [30]. A two-dimensional axisymmetric (see
Section 8.8 of Ref 29) representation was used for the standar-
dized contraction ow from the barrel into the capillary die of the
melt ow indexer. Because uid inertia [Re 1[ and thermal
effects [Na 1[ (see Eq 9) are negligible, we solve the simplied
equation of motion (see Eq 10.2-1 or 11.2-9 in Ref 29; see also
Table I.1-1 and Eq. B of Ref 31),
0 = \ s p1 ( ) (10)
subject to the continuity equation for constant density (see
Eq 10.2-2 or 11.2-10 in Ref 29; see also Eq. 1.1-5 of Ref 31),
0 = \ v (11)
and subject to the no-slip wall conditions along the capillary and
barrel surfaces (see Section 8.6 of Ref 29). For the generalized
Newtonian ow simulations (see the section Generalized Newto-
nian Fluid), we used an imposed normal force for the piston sur-
face (see Section 8.6 of Ref 29), but for the viscoelastic ow
simulations (see the section Viscoelastic Fluid) the code
requires that a ow rate at the inlet and outlet boundaries be speci-
ed (see Section 8.9.2 of Ref 29). Figure 2 denes the boundary
conditions used in all of our simulations.
A quadrilateral mesh was generated using ANSYS Meshing,
version 12.1 [32], with a renement at the wall as shown in Fig. 3.
There are a total of 4500 elements in the mesh: roughly 750 in the
die, and about 3750 in the barrel. The mesh was rened to give at
least 25 mesh elements across the capillary die (see Fig. 4).
We rst explore the role of steady shear viscosity in an MFI mea-
surement, and we then go on to explore the role played by
viscoelasticity. To explore steady shear viscosity, we compare gener-
alized Newtonian models with the Newtonian constitutive equation.
TABLE 2Melt ow index experiment literature.
MFI Measured Materials Effect of Variability Reference
Tordella (1953) X PE W, T Yes [1]
Sperati et al. (1953) X PE M
w
, CB No [15]
Longworth (1965) X PE M
w
No [11]
Menges et al. (1978) X LDPE, HDPE, PP, PS, POM, PVC, PC, PMMA T, W Yes [16]
Shenoy et al. (1983) X A, N, PET, POM, PC, PSU Grades No [17]
Shenoy et al. (1983) X LDPE, HDPE, PP, PS, SAN M
w
No [18]
Shenoy et al. (1984) X Blends B No [19]
Gleible (1994) X LDPE, PMMA SSV, LVE No [20]
Gleible (1994) X LDPE W, T, PH Yes [20]
Reilly and Appel (1996) X NIST 1476, NIST 1475, M6450 MIW, OP, T Yes [21]
Bafna and Beall (1997) X HDPE MIW, SM, W Yes [22]
Dealy and Saucier (2000) MIW, SM Yes [4]
Seavey et al. (2003) LDPE, HDPE M
w
D, SSV No [23]
Barrera et al. (2006) X HDPE W No [14]
Elleithy et al. (2009) X LDPE, HDPE, PP W, T, L=D; q No [24]
Doufas et al. (2011) X PP M
w
No [25]
Notes: A, acrylics; B, blending; CB, chain branching; (L/H)DPE, low/high density polyethylene; LVE, linear viscoelasticity; MIW, melt indexer wear; M
w
; molecu-
lar weight; M
w
D; molecular weight distribution; N, nylon; OP, operator error; PC, polycarbonate; PE, polyethylene; PET, polyethylene terephthalate; PH, piston
height; PMMA, polymethylmethacrylate; POM, polyoxymethylene; PP, polypropylene; PS, polystyrene; PSU, polysulfone; PVC, polyvinylchloride; SAN, styrene-
acrylonitrile copolymer; SM, sample mass; SSV, steady shear viscosity; T, temperature; W, test weight.
FIG. 3Melt ow indexer quadrilateral mesh for capillary die and contrac-
tion region, with the whole ow region (barrel plus die) inset.
MERTZ ETAL. ON UNDERSTANDING MELT INDEX ANDASTM D1238 3
For viscoelasticity, we used the simplest relevant viscoelastic constitu-
tive equation, the corotational Maxwell model. We call this the sim-
plest relevant model because it incorporates both shear thinning
behavior in steady shear and time dependence with only two parame-
ters: the zero shear viscosity, and one relaxation time, (g
0
; k).
ANSYS POLYFLOW, version 12.1, formulates the Phan-
Thien-Tanner model [33] with a solvent viscosity g
2
as follows
(see Eqs 11.2-1, 11.2-2, and 11.2-17 in Ref 29):
s = s
1
s
2
(12)
s
2
= 2g
2
_ c (13)
exp
ek
g
s
1
( )
_ _
s
2
k 1
f
2
_ _
s
1
\
f
2
s
1
D
_ _
= 2g
0
_ c (14)
in which e and f are the Phan-Thien Tanner model nonlinear
parameters. For the special case of
g
2
= 0
e = 0
f = 1
_
_
_
(15)
Eqs 12 through 14 reduce to the corotational Maxwell model
(Eq 37). We recommend the corotational Maxwell model as a
practitioners rst stab at exploring the role played by viscoelastic-
ity, and we have chosen this model to deepen our understanding
of the ow in the melt indexer.
In our nite element simulations of the ow of a corotational
Maxwell uid in the melt indexer, we nd that the calculation will
not complete for R
a
_ 0:499. In this work we have not explored the
role of viscoelasticity in melt indexer behavior for R
a
_ 0:499.
Melt Indexer Mechanics
Although there is no exact solution to the equations of motion for
a melt indexer, approximate solutions for simple rheological uids
can still be useful. In this section we treat the melt indexer analyti-
cally for all uids; in the following sections we combine these
results with appropriate constitutive equations to deepen our
understanding of MFI.
The gauge pressure on the surface of the melt indexer piston is
given by
p
0
=
4W
pD
2
b
(16)
and the gauge pressure at the die exit is 0. We use this as the pressure
boundary condition in the section Generalized Newtonian Fluid.
For fully developed pressure-driven ow through a capillary,
the shear stress at the wall is given by
s
w
=
Dp
c
D
4L
(17)
Neglecting the pressure drop consumed by the contraction, the
overall pressure drop through the melt indexer in given by
Dp = Dp
c
Dp
b
(18)
Insofar as the pressure drop through the barrel is small relative to
the pressure drop through the capillary,
Dp
c
Dp
b
(19)
we get
s
w

p
0
D
4L
(20)
FIG. 4Melt ow indexer quadrilateral mesh for capillary die exit.
An MFI measurement is thus a mass ow rate _ m under an approxi-
mately controlled wall shear stress. Our theoretical work predicts the
volumetric ow rate Q, which is related to the mass ow rate by
_ m = qQ (21)
which we will use to deduce the MFI based on Q.
Generalized Newtonian Fluid
Although there are no polymer melts with both shear thinning and
without viscoelasticity in Table 3 of ASTM D1238-10 [2], it is
still useful to consider how the steady shear viscosity behavior
alone affects the melt index measurement. We thus begin by using
the Bird-Carreau model to explore the role of the zero-shear
viscosity g
0
, the innite-shear viscosity g
, the amount of shear

thinning n, and the characteristic time for the uid k. We start
with the Bird-Carreau model and reduce the results to the special
cases of Newtonian and power law uids.
Bird-Carreau
The Bird-Carreau model is given by
g =
s
_ c
= g
g
0
g
( ) 1 k_ c ( )
2
_ _
(n1)=2
(22)
Given that the melt index is approximately a shear stress con-
trolled experiment, we solve for the shear stress in Eq 22 and then
adimensionalize.
R = H
H H
( )
2=(n1)
1
_
(23)
where:
R =
sk
g
0
g
(24)
H =
g
g
0
g
(25)
FIG. 5Bird-Carreau model plotted as a function of dimensionless stress.
FIG. 6Steady shear viscosity inection shear stress versus n for
H
=(10
2
(black), 5 10
3
( ), 10
3
( ), 10
4
( )); 10
3
( )
overlaps 10
4
( ).
TABLE 3Dimensional variables.
Applied weight W ML=t
2
Average capillary velocity v
z
)
c
L/t
Barrel diameter D
b
= 2R
b
L
Barrel length L
b
L
Capillary diameter D = 2R L
Capillary length L L
Characteristic uid time k t
Entrance length L
e
L
Extensional rate _ e 1/t
Extensional viscosity, uniaxial g
E
M=Lt
Extra stress tensor s M=Lt
2
Mass ow rate _ m M/t
Melt density q M=L
3
Melt index MFI M=t
Melt thermal conductivity k ML=t
3
T
Power law constant K M=Lt
(2n)
Pressure drop, barrel Dp
b
M=Lt
2
Pressure drop, capillary Dp
c
M=Lt
2
Pressure drop, contraction Dp
C
M=Lt
2
Pressure drop, total Dp M=Lt
2
Process time t
p
t
Shear rate _ c 1/t
Shear stress, at die wall s
R
M=Lt
2
Shear stress, at barrel wall s
Rb
M=Lt
2
Shear stress, apparent s
a
M=Lt
2
Shear stress, at inection s
I
M=Lt
2
Temperature of MFI test T T
Temperature rise in capillary DT T
Velocity v L=T
Viscosity, innite shear g
M=Lt
Viscosity, steady shear g M=Lt
Viscosity, zero shear g
0
M=Lt
Notes: M, mass; L, length; t, time; T, temperature.
H
=
g
g
0
g
(26)
where:
0 _ R _ ,
H
0
_ H _ H
; and
0 _ H H
_ 1.
Equation 23 is plotted in Fig. 5, from which we see that the
steady shear viscosity curve departs from Newtonian behavior
when R > 1. The steady shear viscosity curve given by Eq 23 (the
logarithm of H versus the logarithm R) inects at H
I
, where H
I
is
given implicitly by
0 = 2H
I
H
I
H
( )
[2=(n1)[1
n 1 ( ) H
I
H
( )
2=(n1)
1
_ _
1
3 n
n 1
_ _
H
I
H
I
H
( )
_ _
(27)
Figure 6 plots the corresponding inection stress, R
I
(n; H
):
We now introduce the dimensionless ow rate (dened in
Table 4), a quantity that is proportional to the MFI. Figures 7, 8,
and 9 show the dimensionless ow rate as a function of dimen-
sionless apparent wall shear stress in the melt indexer die R
a
(dened in Table 4) for several values of n (0:75; 0:5; 0:25) and
for H
= (10
2
; 10
3
; 10
4
). Figure 10 compares the results of
Figs. 7, 8, and 9 on logarithmic scales. Table 6 lists the dimen-
sional values of the apparent wall shear stress in the melt indexer
die for each mass prescribed by Table 3 of ASTM D1238-10 [2]
for Procedure A. The rightmost column of these s
a
values in Table
6 can thus be used to calculate the abscissa R
a
of Figs. 710.
TABLE 4Dimensionless groups and variables.
Contraction ratio c = D
b
=D
Deborah number
De =
k
t
p
Flow rate
Q =
Qg
0
DpD
3
NahmeGrifth number
Na =
32MFI
dg
0
=dT [ [=k
_
pD
2
q
Power law index in Eq. (33) and
exponent in Bird-Carreau model in Eq. (22)
n
Reynolds number in die Re =
q v
z
)
c
D
g
0
Shear stress, apparent at the capillary wall
R
a
=
s
a
k
g
0
Shear stress at inection point
R
I
=
s
I
k
g
0
Time
H =
tL
u
z
)
Viscosity, innite shear
H
=
g
g
0
g
Viscosity, steady shear

H =
g
g
0
g
Viscosity, zero shear

H
0
=
g
0
g
0
g
Weissenberg number We = k_ c
FIG. 7Linear-linear plot of dimensionless ow rate as a function of R
a
for
n =0.75 and for H
=(10
2
(black), 10
3
( ), 10
4
( )).
a
for
n =0.5 and for H
=(10
2
(black), 10
3
( ), 10
4
( )).
a
for
n =0.25 and for H
=(10
2
(black), 10
3
( ), 10
4
( )).
These gures can be used to estimate the sensitivity of the MFI to
one or more of the Bird-Carreau model parameters (and thus to
any feature of the steady shear viscosity curve).
From Fig. 10, we nd that as R
a
0, Q 0:0059, which is
9 % below 0.0064, the universal value for a Newtonian uid
through a melt indexer with no contraction pressure drop. This
9 % difference is thus the effect of the contraction pressure drop
in the melt ow indexer. This difference grows as the average
steady shear viscosity in the die drops relative to the average
steady shear viscosity in the barrel, and Fig. 11 (as well as
Fig. 14) illustrates this: the higher R
a
ows have higher pressure
gradients @p=@z than the lower R
a
ones.
Figure 12 illustrates the recirculations that arise in the barrel of
a melt ow indexer. The size of these recirculations depends upon
the steady shear viscosity curve parameters, and also on the spe-
cic weight prescribed by Table 3 of ASTM D1238-10 [2] for
Procedure A (see Table 5). The streamlines in Fig. 12 thus show
the decrease in vortex size with increasing R
a
. Figure 13 illus-
trates the contours of the magnitude of the rate of deformation ten-
sor that arise during the MFI test.
We now explore the entrance length in the die of the melt ow
indexer. Specically, we wish to use our nite element model
to calculate the number of diameters spent establishing fully
developed ow in the melt indexer capillary. Theoretical work on
entrance lengths in a tube, for Newtonian uids, predicts (Eq 25
of Ref 34; see also Eq 5-45 of Ref 35)
L
e
D
= 0:59 0:056Re (28)
The Reynolds number Re is dened in Table 4. Figure 15 illus-
trates our ndings in this regard. We calculate entrance lengths in
the melt index capillary entrance that are well below the lower
bound L
e
=D = 0:59 of Ref 34 from Eq 28. This is because Ref 34
assumes the velocity prole at the capillary entrance is at, but for
the melt indexer, we nd it to be far from at (see Fig. 15).
Newtonian
For a Newtonian uid,
s = l_ c (29)
We expect Newtonian uid behavior whenever R < 1 (see the
section titled Bird-Carreau). In practice, this arises for unen-
tangled polymer melts, for which the molecular weight M
w
is
below the critical molecular weight M
c
, and the rheological behav-
ior is therefore nearly Newtonian. For the condensation polymers
in Table 3 of ASTM D1238-10 [2], for example, nylon, polyethyl-
ene terephthalate, and polycarbonate commercial grades are not
normally entangled.
The pressure drop for the fully developed ow of a Newtonian
uid through a capillary die is given by
Dp
c
=
128lLQ
pD
4
(30)
and the pressure drop for the fully developed ow of a Newtonian
uid through the barrel is
Dp
b
=
128lL
b
Q
pD
4
b
(31)
FIG. 10Log-log plot of dimensionless ow rate as a function of R
a
for
several values of n and for H
=(10
2
(black), 10
3
( ), 10
4
( )).
TABLE 6Apparent shear stresses for masses from Table 3 of ASTM D1238-10.
m, kg
Dp =
4mg
pD
2
b
; kPa s
a
=
DpD
4L
; kPa
0.325 49.51 3.241
1.05 160.0 10.47
1.2 182.8 11.97
2.16 329.0 21.54
3.8 578.9 37.90
5.0 761.7 49.90
10 1523 99.73
12.5 1904 124.7
21.6 3290 215.4
31.6 4814 315.2
TABLE 5ASTM D1238-10 measurement procedures.
Procedure D
b
=D L/D For D1238-10
A 9:550=2:095 4:5 8:000=2:095 4:0 Standard MFI 9
B 9:550=2:095 4:5 8:000=2:095 4:0 Melt volume rate 10
C 9:550=1:048 9:1 4:000=1:048 4:0 MFI _ 75 11
D 9:550=2:095 4:5 8:000=2:095 4:0 Multi-weight ow rate ratio 12
Notes: D
b
; barrel diameter; L, die length; D, capillary diameter.
Substituting Eqs 30 and 31 into Eq 18, and using Table 4 and then
adimensionalizing, gives us the crude Newtonian analytical model
for the melt indexer,
Q =
p
128L=D
1
L
b
c
4
L
_ _
1
(32)
to which we will compare our nite element simulations (compare
with Eq (a) of example 11-2 from Shaw [36]; see also Problem 5-
39 in Ref 35 or Problem 3 A.1 presented by Baird and Collias
[37]). In Eq 32, for the melt indexer, the contraction ratio is a
standardized value to c = 4:55. Equation 32 gives the dimension-
less value of the melt index for a Newtonian uid, neglecting the
contraction pressure drop.
Power Law
For a power law uid,
s = K _ c
n1
_ c (33)
FIG. 11Centerline melt ow indexer pressure for the whole melt indexer (left) and for just the die (right); n = [0:25(bottom); 0:5(middle); 0:75(top)[, R=[0.13
(black), 1.05 ( ), 6.55 ( )].
One might expect this to provide a useful description of the melt
indexer behavior if the shear rate in the capillary is in the linear
region of the steady shear viscosity curve. By the linear region,
we mean the region in which the steady shear viscosity curve
inects, that is, where R ~ O(R
I
).
The pressure drop for the fully developed ow of a power law
uid through a capillary die is given by
Dp
c
=
4KL
D
8 1 3n ( )Q
npD
3
_ _
n
(34)
and the pressure drop for the fully developed ow of a power law
uid through a barrel die is given by
Dp
b
=
4KL
b
D
b
8 1 3n ( )Q
npD
3
b
_ _
n
(35)
Substituting Eqs 34 and 35 into Eq 18, and using Table 4 and then
adimensionalizing, gives us the crude power law analytical model
for the melt indexer,
FIG. 14Contour map of pressure along streamlines for a Bird-Carreau
uid through a melt indexer in the contraction region (Eq 22 with
n = 0:25; 0:5; 0:75 and R
a
= 0:1; 1; 10). Effects of shear thinning (n) and cap-
illary wall shear stress (R
a
). Colors (or shades) reect relative pressure.
FIG. 12Contour map of melt indexer streamline behaviors in the contraction
region (Eq 22 with n = 0:25; 0:5; 0:75 and R
a
= 0:1; 1; 10) showing the effects
of shear thinning (n) and capillary wall shear stress (R
a
). Colors (or shades)
reect relative speed.
FIG. 13Contour map of the magnitude of the rate of deformation tensor
along streamlines for a Bird-Carreau uid through a melt indexer in the con-
traction region (Eq 22 with n = 0:25; 0:5; 0:75 and R
a
= 0:1; 1; 10). Effects of
shear thinning (n) and capillary wall shear stress (R
a
). Colors (or shades)
reect relative shear rate.
FIG. 15Velocity proles at several dimensionless axial positions z=D for
n =0.25 and R
a
= 6:55. The line is just above the die entrance, is
at the die entrance, and is fully developed ow far from the die entrance.
Q
PL
=
np
8 1 3n ( )
c
4
4L=D
L
b
L
c
3n1
_ _
1
_ _
1=n
(36)
which reduces to Eq 32 when n =1. One might have expected a
power law analysis of a melt ow indexer (Eq 36) to be of some
value. However, because g
0
= for the power law uid, with
the power law model, our nite element calculation predicts
hardly any deformation in the barrel. Thus, the power law analysis
grossly overpredicts the pressure drop through the barrel and
therefore is not a useful way of looking at the melt index.
Figure 16 illustrates this nding.
Viscoelastic Fluid
Corotational Maxwell
To explore the role of melt elasticity in the melt indexer, we now
use the simplest relevant viscoelastic constitutive equation, the
corotational Maxwell model. We call this the simplest relevant
model because it incorporates both shear thinning behavior in
steady shear and time dependence, with only two parameters. The
corotational Maxwell model is given by
s
k
2
Ds
Dt
= 2g
0
_ c (37)
for which the corotational derivative is given by
Ds
Dt
=
Ds
Dt

1
2
\v \v ( )
_ _
s s \v \v ( )
_ _ _ _
(38)
in which D=Dt is the substantial derivative. Using Table 4, we
can adimensionalize Eq 37 as
R
De
2
DR
DH
= 2We (39)
From this we learn that, in the context of the melt indexer, R is
being approximately controlled in the capillary by the use of the
FIG. 16Contour map of pressure with streamlines for a power law uid
through a melt indexer in the contraction region (Eq 33 with n =0.5 and
R
a
= 0:13). Colors (or shades) reect relative pressure.
FIG. 17Dimensionless ow rate versus dimensionless capillary wall shear
stress for corotational Maxwell model (Eq 37).
FIG. 18Contour map of speed along streamlines for a corotational Maxwell
uid through a melt indexer in the contraction region (Eq 38 with
R
a
= 0:1; 1; 10). Colors (or shades) reect relative speed.
FIG. 19Contour map of pressure along streamlines for a corotational Max-
well uid through a melt indexer in the contraction region (Eq 38 with
R
a
= 0:1; 1; 10). Colors (or shades) reect relative pressure.
standardized dead weight (see Table 3 of ASTM D1238-10 [2], as
well as our Table 6), and the Weissenberg and Deborah numbers
both are dependent variables. Although Eq 39 yields no useful
analytical solution for the melt index, we have performed a nite
element simulation of the melt indexer ow to uncover the rela-
tionship between Q and R
a
. Equation 37 is a two-parameter
model, and these parameters are included in the denitions of Q
and R
a
. Therefore, with the Bird-Carreau model in this paper, the
corotational Maxwell model yields one universal curve for Q(R
a
)
,
which we give in Fig. 17. Figure 18 illustrates streamlines
and speed contours in the contraction area for the corotational
Maxwell uid. We calculate entrance lengths in the melt index
capillary entrance that are well below Atkinson et al.s lower
bound from Eq 28 of L
e
=D = 0:59. This is because Atkinson
et al. [34] assume the velocity prole at the capillary entrance is
at, but for the melt indexer, we nd it to be far from at. From
the streamlines in Figs. 18, 19, or 20, we learn that the melt
indexer vortices grow with increasing R
a
. Figure 19 illustrates the
pressure contours through the melt indexer, from which we learn
that in a dimensionless sense the pressure consumption through
the melt indexer is hardly affected by the melt viscoelasticity.
From Fig. 20, we see that the same goes for the magnitude of the
rate of deformation tensor.
Example: Specifying Melt Index for Pipe
Extrusion
A plastics engineer is to choose a new resin for a pipe extrusion line.
He has a steady shear viscosity curve for the proposed replacement
resin that ts the Bird-Carreau model with g
0
= 1:5 10
6
Pa s,
g
= 1:5 10
3
Pa s, k = 45 s, and n = 0:25 and which has a
melt density of q = 1000 kg=m
3
. For the contract with his supplier,
the engineer needs to estimate the MFI.
Table 4 denes the dimensionless shear stress as
R
a
=
sk
g
0
g
(40)
where s = s
a
is prescribed by Table 6 for the ASTM standardized
test weight, which in this case is W=12.5 kg. Thus,
R
a
=
(124700 Pa)(45 s)
1:5 10
6
Pa s
= 3:74 (41)
Because R
a
> 1, we must use Fig. 9 from the Bird-Carreau sec-
tion of this paper with H
= 10
3
.
Q = 0:0147
where, from Table 4,
Q =
Qg
0
DpD
3
(42)
and thus
Q =
QDpD
3
g
0
=
0:0147 ( )(1904000 Pa) 0:002095m ( )
3
1:5 10
6
Pa s
= 31:72 10
10
m
3
=s (43)
Using Eq 21 to convert to the mass ow rate gives an estimated
melt index of
MFI = 0:1 g=10 min (44)
which the plastics engineer can then tentatively specify in his sup-
ply contract.
Example: Specifying Melt Index For Sag
In plastics thermoforming, the distance that the sheet sags under
its own weight determines the shape of the sheet delivered to the
mold and therefore has a huge inuence on many part defects
such as webbing and thin spots. This sheet sag is governed by g
0
[38]. Using Eq 24 of Ref 38, the processing engineer calculates
her g
0
requirement as g
0
_ 10
6
Pa s. She forms the sheet at the
thermoforming temperature T
t
, just a few degrees above the
material softening point. The steady shear viscosity data for her
material are known to t the Bird-Carreau model (Eq 22) with the
constants g
0
= 3 10
6
Pa s, g
= 0, n = 0:75, and k = 10 s at
T
t
and a melt density of q = 1000 kg=m
3
. How shall she constrain
her melt index?
We must rst adjust her g
0
requirement from the thermoform-
ing temperature to the standardized melt index test temperature
condition T
MI
, from Table 3 of ASTM D1238-10 [2], for her
material. Specically using the Williams-Landel-Ferry (WLF)
equation (Eq 40 of 11 C.3. in Ref 39), she calculates a shift factor
ratio a
T
MI
=a
T
t
of 2.5, so that g
0
(T
MI
) _ 2:5 10
5
Pa s.
Recall the denition of dimensionless shear stress from
Table 4,
R
a
=
sk
g
0
g
(45)
with s = s
a
prescribed by Table 6 for the ASTM standardized test
weight, which in this case is W=2.16 kg. Thus,
R
a
=
(21540 Pa)(0:1 s)
2:5 10
4
Pa s
= 0:0861 (46)
Because R
a
1, we can use Eq 32 from the Newtonian section
of this paper.
FIG. 20Contour map of the magnitude of the rate of deformation tensor
along streamlines for a corotational Maxwell uid through a melt indexer in
the contraction region (Eq 38 with R
a
= 0:1; 1; 10). Colors (or shades) reect
relative shear rate.
Q =
p
128L=D
1
L
b
c
4
L
_ _
1
= 0:006335
Recall the denition from Table 4,
Q =
Qg
0
DpD
3
(47)
Thus
Q =
QDpD
3
g
0
=
0:006335 ( )(329000 Pa) 0:002095m ( )
3
2:5 10
4
Pa s
= 7:67 10
10
m
3
=s (48)
Using Eq 21 to convert to mass ow rate gives an upper bound on
the melt index of
MFI _ 0:46 g=10 min (49)
The lower bound for this melt index specication will be gov-
erned by other matters.
Conclusion
We nd that a useful way of looking at the melt index is as a
capillary ow in which the capillary wall shear stress is approxi-
mately controlled. Figure 10 is the main result of this paper, and it is
based on the Bird-Carreau steady shear viscosity function, rewritten
in terms of the viscosity versus the shear stress. It allows plastics
engineers to estimate the melt index from a steady shear viscosity
curve. We chose this Bird-Carreau model because it matches the
shapes of steady shear viscosity curves with the fewest parameters.
Figure 17 is the plot corresponding to Fig. 10, but for a
viscoelastic uid that also exhibits shear thinning in steady shear.
Specically, for Fig. 17 we chose the corotational Maxwell model
because it is the simplest model that incorporates both time
dependence and shear thinning, the things relevant to melt index.
We use Fig. 17 to explore the role of the uid relaxation time in
the melt index.
Our nite element calculations of the developing velocity pro-
le in the melt indexer capillary die show far shorter entrance
lengths than have been expected heretofore. We identify vortices
at the contraction, and we nd that for the Bird-Carreau model,
these shrink with increasing amounts of shear thinning. From the
corotational Maxwell model, we learn that these vortices grow
with increasing relaxation time.
Acknowledgment
We thank Sub-Zero, Inc. of Madison, WI, for their nancial sup-
port. We thank Mr. Hossam Metwally of ANSYS Inc. in Ann
Arbor, MI, for his invaluable advice about ANSYS POLYFLOW.
References
[1] Tordella, J. P. and Jolly, R. E., Melt Flow of Polyethylene;
Measurement by Means of a Simple Extrusion Plastometer,
Mod. Plast., Vol. 31, 1953, pp. 146150, 229.
[2] ASTM D1238-10, 2010, Standard Test Method for Melt
Flow Rates of Thermoplastics by Extrusion Plastometer,
Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 8.01, ASTM Interna-
tional, West Conshohocken, PA, 115.
[3] Fenner, R. T., Principles of Polymer Processing, Chemical
Publishing, New York, 1979.
[4] Dealy, J. M. and Saucier, P. C., Rheology in Plastics Quality
Control, Hanser, Cincinnati, 2000.
[5] Dealy, J. M., Rheometers for Molten Plastics, Van Nostrand
Reihnold, Munich, Germany, 1982.
[6] Macosko, C. W., Rheology Principles, Measurements, and
Applications, VCH Publishers, New York, 1994.
[7] Osswald, T. A., Polymer Processing Fundamentals, Hanser,
Cincinnati, 1998.
[8] Wasserman, S. H., Characterizing the Melt Relaxation
Behavior of Metallocene Polyethylenes, Proceedings of the
Conference of the Society of Plastics Engineers, Vol. 1,
Toronto, April 27May 2, 1997, pp. 11291133.
[9] Dealy, J. M. and Larson, R. G., Structure and Rheology of
Molten Polymers, Hanser, New York, 2006.
[10] Vinogradov, G. V. and Malkin, A. Ya., Rheology of Poly-
mers, A. Beknazarov, Trans., Mir, Moscow, 1980.
[11] Longworth, R., Melt Index as a Measure of Newtonian Melt
Viscosity, Polym. Lett., Vol. 3, 1965, pp. 221226.
[12] Wortberg, J. and Menges, G., More Information for Extru-
sion Die Design and ProcessingFrom Melt Flow Index to
General Viscosity Function, Proceedings of the 36th Annual
Technical Conference (ANTEC), Montreal, April 2528,
1977, Society of Plastics Engineers, pp. 426429.
[13] Rohlng, D. C. and Janzen, J., Whats Happening in the
Melt-ow Plastometer: The Role of Elongational Viscosity,
Proceedings of the 55th Annual Technical Conference
(ANTEC), Toronto, April 27May 2, 1997, Society of Plas-
tics Engineers, pp. 10101014.
[14] Barrera, M. A., Vega, J. F., Aguilar, M., and Martinez-
Salazar, J., Melt Flow Index on High Molecular Weight
Polyethylene: A Comparative Study of Experiments and
Simulation, J. Mater. Process. Technol., Vol. 174, 2006,
pp. 171177.
[15] Sperati, C. A., Franta, W. A., and Starkweather, H. W., Jr.,
The Molecular Structure of Polyethylene. V. The Effect of
Chain Branching and Molecular Weight on Physical Proper-
ties, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol. 75, 1953, pp. 61276133.
[16] Menges, G., Wortberg, J., and Michaeli, M., Abschatzung
der Viskositatsfunktion uber den Schmelzindex [Estimating
the Viscosity Function via the Melt Flow Index], Kunstoffe
[German Plastics], Vol. 68, 1978, pp. 4750 (bilingual).
[17] Shenoy, A. V., Saini, S. R., and Nadkarni, V. M.,
Estimation of the Melt Rheology of Polymer Waste from
Melt Flow Index, Polymer, Vol. 24, 1983, pp. 722728.
[18] Shenoy, A. V., Saini, S. R., and Nadkarni, V. M.,
Rheograms for Engineering Thermoplastics from Melt
Flow Index, Rheol. Acta, Vol. 22, 1983, pp. 209222.
[19] Shenoy, A. V., Saini, S. R., and Nadkarni, V. M., Melt Rhe-
ology of Polymer Blends from Melt Flow Index, Int. J.
Polym. Mater., Vol. 10, 1984, pp. 213235.
[20] Gleible, W. and Schulze, V., Stress Controlled Simultane-
ous On-line Measurements of Viscosity, Flow Exponent, and
Melt Index, Int. Polym. Process., Vol. 4, 1995, pp.
321329.
[21] Reilly, J. F. and Appel, M. R., Precise Melt Index Testing,
Proceedings of the 54th Annual Technical Conference
(ANTEC), Indianapolis, IN, 1996, Society of Plastics Engi-
neers, pp. 23802384.
[22] Bafna, S. S. and Beall, A. M., Variability in Melt Index
All Secrets Revealed: Practical Results You Can Use from a
Design of Experiments Study, Proceedings of the 55th
Annual Technical Conference (ANTEC), Toronto, Canada,
1997, Society of Plastics Engineers, pp. 21402143.
[23] Seavey, K. C., Liu, Y. A., and Khare, N. P., Quantifying
Relationships among the Molecular Weight Distribution, Non-
Newtonian Shear Viscosity, and Melt Index for Linear Poly-
mers, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 42, 2003, pp. 53545362.
[24] Elleithy, R., Al Mundarij, F., and Al Deyab, S., Using Melt
Flow Index to Characterize Some Rheological Properties of
Polyethylenes and Polypropylenes, a Sequel, Proceedings
of the 67th Annual Technical Conference (ANTEC), Chicago,
June 2224, 2009, Society of Plastics Engineers, pp.
23972402.
[25] Doufas, A. K., Rice, L., and Thurston, W., Shear and Exten-
sional Rheology of Polypropylene Melts: Experimental and
Modeling Studies, J. Rheol., Vol. 55, 2011, pp. 95126.
[26] Shenoy, A. V. and Saini, S. R., Melt Flow Index: More than
Just a Quality Control Rheological Parameter. Part I, Adv.
Polym. Technol., Vol. 6, 1986, pp. 158.
[27] Shenoy, A. V. and Saini, S. R., Melt Flow Index: More than
Just a Quality Control Rheological Parameter. Part II, Adv.
Polym. Technol., Vol. 6, 1986, pp. 125145.
[28] Osswald, T. A. and Menges, G., Materials Science of Poly-
mers for Engineers, Hanser, Cincinnati, 1996.
[29] ANSYS POLYFLOW 12.1 Users Guide. (2009). ANSYS
Inc., Canonsburg, PA.
[30] Van Schaftingen, J. J. and Crochet, M. J., A Comparison
of Mixed Methods for Solving the Flow of a Maxwell
Fluid, Int. J. Numer. Methods Fluids, Vol. 4, 1984, pp.
10651081.
[31] Bird, R. B., Armstrong, R. C., and Hassager, O., Dynamics of
Polymeric Liquids, 2nd ed., Vol. 1, Wiley, New York, 1987.
[32] ANSYS Meshing 12.1 Users Guide. (2009). ANSYS Inc.,
Canonsburg, PA.
[33] Phan-Thien N. and Tanner, R., A New Constitutive Equa-
tion Derived from Network Theory, J. Non-Newtonian
Fluid Mech., Vol. 2, 1977, pp. 353356.
[34] Atkinson, B. M., Brocklebank, P., Card, C. C. H., and Smith,
J. M., Low Reynolds Number Developing Flows, AIChE
J., Vol. 15, 1969, pp. 548553.
[35] Middleman, S., Fundamentals of Polymer Processing,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1977.
[36] Shaw, M. T., Introduction to Polymer Rheology, Wiley,
Hoboken, NJ, 2012.
[37] Baird, D. G. and Collias, D. I., Polymer Processing Princi-
ples and Design, Wiley, New York, 1998.
[38] Giacomin, A. J., Mix, A. W., and Mahmood, O., Sag in
Thermoforming, Polym. Eng. Sci., Vol. 50, 2010, pp.
20602068.
[39] Ferry, J. D., Viscoelastic Properties of Polymers, Wiley,
New York, 1980.
[40] Elston, C. T., Process for Preparation of Homogeneous
Random Partly Crystalline Copolymers of Ethylene with
Other Alpha-olephins, U.S. Patent No. 3,645,992 (1972).
[41] DeKunder, S. A., Varun, R., Schanobish, K., and Crim,
J. B., Porous Films, U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/
0102233 A1 (2008).
[42] Mertz, A. M., Understanding Melt Flow Index and ASTM
D1238, MS thesis, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, Madison, USA (2007).

Jte20120161 DL.000389308 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Jte20120161 DL.000389308 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A. M.

, the amount of shear

Viscosity, steady shear

Viscosity, zero shear

You might also like