2020 journal article

Modeling Polymer Crystallization Kinetics in the Meltblowing Process

INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH, 59(1), 399–412.

By: A. Ghosal*, K. Chen *, S. Ray*, A. Yarin * & B. Pourdeyhimi n 

co-author countries: United States of America πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ
Source: Web Of Science
Added: January 27, 2020

A novel model of the crystallization process in meltblowing process is proposed and implemented in numerical simulations. The spinline crystallization is studied using numerical solutions of the system of coupled quasi-one-dimensional equations describing the dynamics of multiple polymer jets moving in the surrounding high-speed air. Cooling, crystallization, and solidification accompany three-dimensional motion of polymer jets resulting in their vigorous stretching by the air flux including the aerodynamically driven bending/flapping. The numerical solutions predict distribution of the degree of crystallinity in polymer jets in flight, as well as in the laydown formed on the collecting screen, with the three-dimensional structure of the laydown being fully reconstructed. The effect of the collector screen temperature, die-to-collector distance (DCD), and the activation energy of the viscous flow in the polymer melt on the laydown features is studied in detail.