Modeling the Melt Spinning of Polyethylene Terephthalate

Abstract

A model is formulated to describe quantitatively the melt spinning of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) within the low range of take up velocities. The rheology of the polymer melt is described with the Phan-Thien and Tanner constitutive equation for the stress tensor by considering both the instantaneous and retarded elastic responses. This theological model gives appropriate predictions of the velocity and temperature profiles of the filament, within the framework of the spinning model proposed in this work. This conclusion arises when numerical results of this model are compared with experimental data as well as other calculations available in the literature.