The relationship between the melt flow behavior and mechanical properties in extruded polybutene-1 pipe was discussed with special emphasis on the molecular orientation caused by the extrusion process. It was demonstrated that the molecular orientation should be minimized in order to maintain product properties, such as fracture elongation. To minimize the molecular orientation the flow stress at the sizingsleeve inlet where the melt flow ends should be depressed. This flow stress characterises the draw ratio from which the extrusion rate was calculated.
The results also showed that the relationship between the die diamater and the product diameter should be optimized to reduce the flow stress especially at high extrusion rate. These results were also confirmed through actual extrusion tests.
In order to confirm the relationship between the molecular orientation and the product properties, extruded sheets having high orientation were also tested. The degree of molecular orientation was measured by Raman spectroscopy. The results confirmed that the elongation heavily depended on the molecular orientation.
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