MODELING THE INFLUENCE OF FILLER PARTICLES ON SURFACE GEOMETRY IN DRAWN PET FILM

The large strain deformation behaviour of particle-filled PET (polyeth ylene terephthalate) film has been investigated numerically in a param etric study employing the ABAQUS finite element solver. The behaviour of PET has been modelled by Mooney-Rivlin rubber elasticity theory. Th e results of the parametric study show that small variations in the pa rticle characteristics lead to significant differences in the surface characteristics, which are likely to change the friction and manufactu ring properties of the film material. A simple methodology has been es tablished for relating the particle characteristics to the surface pro perties. Process design rules have been developed, from which the surf ace characteristics can be determined from a knowledge of the particle characteristics. Good comparisons have been achieved between surface characteristics obtained numerically and those obtained from the simpl e design rules.