Transient and steady-state solutions of 2D viscoelastic nonisothermal simulation model of film casting process via finite element method

The various aspects of the nonlinear dynamics and stability of nonisothermal film casting process have been investigated solving a two-dimensional (2D) viscoelastic simulation model equipped with the Phan-Thien-Tanner (PTT) constitutive equation by employing a finite element method. This study represents an extension of the earlier report [Kim, Lee, Shin, Jung, and Hyun, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 132, 53-60 (2005)] in that two important points are additionally addressed here on the subject: the nonisothermal nature of the film casting, and the differentiation of extension-thickening (strain hardening) and extension-thinning (strain softening) fluids in their different behavior in the film casting process. The PTT model, known for its robustness in portraying dynamics in the extensional deformation processes which include the film casting of this study along with film blowing and fiber spinning as well, renders the transient and steady state solutions of the dynamics in the 2D, viscoelastic, nonisothermal, film casting capable of explaining the effects of various process and material parameters of the system on the film dynamics of the process. Especially, the different behavior displayed by two polymer groups, i.e., the extension-thickening low density polyethylene (LDPE) type and the extension-thinning high density polyethylene (HDPE) type, in the film casting can be readily explained by the PTT equation-included simulation model. The three nonlinear phenomena commonly observed in film casting, i.e., draw resonance oscillation, edge bead, and neck-in, have been successfully delineated in this study using the simulation and experimental results.