The influence of material properties and process parameters on energy consumption in the single-screw extrusion of PVC tubes

The influence of material properties and process parameters on energy consumption in the single-screw extrusion of PVC tubes

Andrea Pieressa, Enrico Bovo, Marco Sorgato, Giovanni Lucchetta

Abstract. Extrusion is one of the most widely used but energy-intensive processes for shaping polymers. It is thus fundamental to understand the process conditions that enable a cost-efficient operation of the extruders. The energy required by the process is highly affected by system variables and material properties in a complex manner. The aim of this work is thus to investigate the correlation between the process settings, the material properties, and the extrusion energy consumption. An extensive experimental campaign was conducted, testing different flexible PVCs. The power was recorded for both the motor of the extruder and the entire machine during continuous single-screw extrusion for various process conditions. A regression model was developed to correlate the specific energy consumption with the material properties, thus providing a valuable tool for estimating the cost of the final manufactured products.

Keywords
Energy Efficiency, Polymers, Single-Screw Extruder

Published online 9/5/2023, 7 pages
Copyright © 2023 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Andrea Pieressa, Enrico Bovo, Marco Sorgato, Giovanni Lucchetta, The influence of material properties and process parameters on energy consumption in the single-screw extrusion of PVC tubes, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 35, pp 295-301, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644902714-35

The article was published as article 35 of the book Italian Manufacturing Association Conference

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

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