A novel capillary rheometer for measurement of flow properties of polymer melts

This paper introduces a novel type of capillary rheometer, with respect to its design and operation, for investigating flow properties of a polymer me lt. The constructed capillary rheometer is fitted into a standard tensile t esting machine such that the mode of extrusion could be altered. The equipm ent features the possibility of moving either the piston or the barrel, the latter being novel in design. In addition, this work presents a novel pres sure sensor for determining the pressure drop along the die in the capillar y rheometer. It is found that the constructed capillary rheometer, coupled with the novel pressure sensor, is a useful device to monitor the flow prop erties of the polymer melt. The preliminary results show that the flow prop erties are dependent not only on the test condition used, but also on the m ode of operation.