Thickness uniformity of HDPE blown film: Relation to rheological properties and density

Previous work has elucidated that the wall slip velocity and viscosity of polymer melts influence the thickness uniformity of blown film. The present study investigates the effects of the stress dependence of wall slip, the shear thinning and the density on the uniformity. We have prepared high-density polyethylenes with a variety of molecular weight distributions, which have different rheological properties. Examination of the thickness uniformity of their blown film has shown that the uniformity is correlated with wall slip velocity, the stress dependence of the velocity, melt viscosity, shear thinning and density, the coefficient of the correlation is determined to be 0.990. The reason why the stress dependence of wall slip and the shear thinning affect the uniformity is explained in terms of polymer melt flow behavior in a die, while the effect of density is interpreted considering bubble fluctuation in the blow-up process.