The effect of post-extrusion conditions in ribbon extrusion of polymer blends

Blends of high density polyethylene and polystyrene were produced via ribbon extrusion to study the effect of post-extrusion conditions on the ribbon final dimensions and morphology. An experimental setup was designed to measure the stretching force as a function of draw ratio and water contact distance for blends of 3, 6 and 9% PS in HDPE. Numerical simulations of the non-isothermal process using Matlab were in good agreement with the experimental data only when both viscous and elastic effects are included. The results show that both draw ratio and water contact distance have a definite influence on the final dimensions of the ribbon and the stretching force. It was found that deformation of the dispersed phase increases with draw ratio, but decreases with water contact distance. © Hanser Publishers