A concept for a novel polymer extruder part 1: active grooved feed section

Abstract

This paper presents a novel concept for an extruder to be used with plastics and polymer composites, especially in the food industry. The design solutions include a grooved feed section with adjustable geometric parameters, which makes it possible for dynamic adjustment of the depth, inclination angle and number of grooves used for granulate transport during continuous operation of the machine. The proposed grooved feed section concept facilitates optimum performance, and is adjustable to suit the general parameters of production. The scope of our study also included the numerical strength and thermal analysis of the designed grooved feed section, conducted using the finite element method. Numerical calculation involved a coupled temperaturedisplacement analysis which constituted a geometrically and physically non-linear problem. The results corroborated the achievement of satisfactory strength for the structural elements of the grooved feed section in the extruder and demonstrated the suitability of the adopted solution in terms of temperature distribution in the parts of the machine, as well as the correct concept of the rcial program.