3D Numerical study on the hollow profile polymer extrusion forming based on the gas-assisted technique

In this study, gas-assisted extrusion method was introduced into the extrusion of the hollow profiles. To validate the feasibility of the new extrusion method, 3D numerical simulation of the hollow profiles based on gas-assisted technique was carried out by using the finite element method. The Phan-Thien-Tanner (PTT) mode was selected as the construction equation. In the simulations, the physical field distributions of four different extrusion modes were obtained and analyzed. Results showed that the extrudate effect of traditional no gas-assisted mode was poor because the extrudate swell phenomenon is obvious and the physical field values are larger. For the gas-assisted of the inner wall, the extrudate swell of the melt was more obvious than that of the traditional no gas-assisted mode on account of the no-slip boundary condition on the outer wall. For the gas-assisted of the outer wall, the dimple effect of the inner wall is more obvious owing to the no-slip boundary condition on the inner wall. However, the extrusion effect of the double walls gas-assisted mode is very good because of the full-slip effect on the both walls.