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Fluent CFD software helps you to visualize the velocity, pressure and temperature distribution in single- or twin-screw extruders. You can quantify the mixing characteristics, residence time and shear rate in the extruder and evaluate how changes in design and operating conditions will affect the quality of mixing. Our unique "mesh superposition technique" lets you capture the complexity of screw rotation accurately and significantly reduce the amount of setup time required.
Pressure distribution predicted for a single-screw extruder
Could a given screw build the necessary pressure to process the materials? Would a modification of the resin grade affect the performance of the screw? Can the operating conditions weaken the structure of the screw by inducing excessive stress and deformation in the rotating object? These are questions which Fluent CFD can answer with an easy to set up simulation of the flow surrounding the screw. The temperature profile within the resin will ensure that its grade has not deteriorated. The residence time and flow pattern help the designer to better understand the complex motion of particles in this device.
Twin-Screw Extruders (TSE)
Pressure distribution predicted for a long twin-screw extruder. The arrow denotes the extrusion direction.
A TSE is built of multiple blocks (conveying element, kneading block, reverse elements, etc.) with diverse purposes. For example, the kneading block illustrated in the animation below mixes the resins together with any other additive. Therefore the measurement of the quality of the mixing and the quantitative comparison between different configurations are important outputs provided by Fluent CFD software.
Click to view animation
An evaluation of the flow inside a kneading block section of a twin screw extruder is shown. The velocity, pressure, temperature, shear rate, mixing efficiency and residence time distribution have been computed. The flow number (mixing efficiency) along a plane cutting through the extruder is shown at the bottom.
Click to view animation
This simulation provides understanding of the non-isothermal flow in a twin-screw extruder. The results help identify areas of high temperature caused by viscous heating. The quality of mixing is computed by unsteady particle tracking and statistical analysis. |
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