Clase 7. Blown Film Extrusion
Clase 7. Blown Film Extrusion
Clase 7. Blown Film Extrusion
Relaxation chambers
Each spiral is machined into the outer diameter of
the mandrel and travels a certain distance around
the mandrel. Typically, a spiral starts deep and
becomes progressively shallower the further
down its length. The area which separates the
spiral channels is known as the land. The gap over
the land formed by the outer body that encloses
the mandrel is what determines how much
polymer flows over the land and how much
travels down the spiral. As the spiral becomes
shallower, the gap above the land becomes
greater, allowing more polymer to travel over the
land as opposed to in the spiral channel.
In general, the bubble
usually has a small
diameter and large
thickness at the die
exit and transitions to
a large diameter and
small thickness as it
Bubble moves upward toward
Geometry solidification.
Above some point, the
geometry is “frozen-in”
and remains virtually
constant.
There are several parameters used to describe the
geometry of the bubble:
Die diameter (D)
Die gap
Frost line height
Neck
Bubble diameter (BD)
Film thickness
Layflat width (LF)
The die diameter represents the initial bubble
diameter as it leaves the die, and the die gap
determines the initial bubble wall thickness. As the
bubble travels upward from the die face in the
molten state, it is cooled and eventually reaches a
temperature where it becomes a solid. The distance
from the die face to where this solidification takes
place is called the frost line height. Conventionally,
the frost line is defined as the lowest point where the
bubble is at its maximum diameter because there is
effectively no further stretching above this point.
The bubble region below
the frost line is known as
the neck. Once the film is
collapsed flat and passes
through the nip rollers,
the two-layer web is
characterized by a lay flat
width. Twice the lay flat
width is equivalent to the
circumference of the
bubble (BD = 2 LF).
Several process variables work together to
determine the bubble geometry:
Melt speed
Nip speed
Internal bubble volume
Cooling rate
The melt speed is the upward velocity of the
polymer as it exits the die gap. It is controlled by
the screw speed. The nip speed (also called film
speed, line speed, and take-off speed) is the
velocity of the polymer as it travels through the nip
rollers.
The film travels essentially at the nip speed at all
points above the frost line. In all cases, the film
increases in velocity from the die face, where it
travels at the melt speed, to the frost line, where it
travels at the nip speed. This acceleration leads to
thinning of the melt curtain to obtain a thin film.
The internal bubble volume is the amount of air
contained inside the bubble between the die face
and the nip rollers. A similar variable that can be
used alternatively is the internal bubble pressure.
The hot melt is cooled externally (and
sometimes internally) by annular streams
of high velocity air from film cooling
devices called air rings. These air rings are
situated close to the die lips outside and
inside the film bubble and cooling air is
blown onto the film as it is being extruded
from the die. The cooling air helps to cool
the hot melt as it exits the die and
stabilizes the shape of the molten tubular
film.
One of the goals of blown film extrusion is to cool the
film being produced so that it solidifies at the highest
possible rate. The maximum achievable output rate of
the production line is often limited by the air-cooling
capability of the air rings.