Flow Properties and Melt Distortion in Molten Rubber Compounds under Capillary Extrusion

摘要

The influences of shear rate and vulcanizing system on the rheological properties and melt fracture of natural rubber compounds were investigated by using a rate-controlled capillary rheometer. The rheological properties of rubber compounds were characterized with respect to the apparent viscosity and extrudate swell. The measured results indicated that the apparent viscosity tended to decrease with increasing shear rate. This was due to the pseudoplastic behavior of molten rubber compound. It was evident that rubber compound using EV system showed the lowest apparent viscosity as compared to those obtained by CV and NS systems, respectively. This was due to the occurrences of premature crosslink at the skin layer and the wall slip of rubber compound during the flow in capillary die. Furthermore, the onset of smooth surface was also observed which depending on the types of crosslink at the skin layer.