Rheograms of filled polymer melts from melt-flow index

Abstract

Polymers filled with extending fillers, such as calcium carbonate or talc, or with reinforcing fillers, such as glass fibers or mica, are increasingly being used in a number of applications. The addition of fillers to a polymer changes the melt rheological behavior of the polymer. A knowledge of the viscosity vs. shear-rate flow curves of the filled system at various temperatures and as a function of filler parameters (such as filler type, shape, and amount) is necessary for process design, optimization, and trouble shooting. The generation of such rheological data is ezpensive and cumbersome in view of the broad range of fillers and the large numbers of filler parameters. In the present article, a unifying approach is proposed that coalesces the flow curves of filled systems of a polymer at various temperatures into a master curve that is independent of the filler parameters. An effective methods is presented to estimate the rheograms of filled systems with the use of a master curve, characteristic of a genetic resin type, knowing the melt-flow index and glass-transition temperature of the system. Master curves have been reported for filled system of low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, poly-propylene polystyrene, nylons, poly(ethylene terephthalate), and polycarbonate.