Numerical simulations of polymer melt conveying in co-rotating twin screw extruder

The 3-D non-isothermal flow of non-Newtonian viscous polymer melt in a co-rotating twin screw extruder is modeled. The distributions of the velocity, temperature, pressure and the viscous dissipation in the flow domain are presented by using a fluid dynamics analysis package (Polyflow). The numerical results show that the temperatures are high in the intermeshing region and on the screw surface, the maximum pressure and the minimum pressure occur in the intermeshing region, and the flow rate is almost proportional to the screw speed.