FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF POLYMER MELT FLOW.

A general purpose, finite element program has been developed for the numerical modeling of flow of polymer melts through processing equipment. Several problems have been solved for two-dimensional creeping flow using Newtonian and power-law models under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. These include planar entry flows, driven cavity flows, extrudate swell, and flow in the gap between calender rolls. Viscoelastic flows were treated using the Criminale-Ericksen-Filbey equation and some correlations of shear and normal stress data.