International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 32 (2005) 501 – 510

www.elsevier.com/locate/ichmt

Preliminary study of polymer melt rheological behavior

flowing through micro-channelsB
S.C. Chena,*, R.I. Tsaia, R.D. Chienb, T.K. Lina
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chung Yuan University, Chung-Li 32023, Taiwan, ROC
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nanya Institute of Technology, Chung-Li 32024, Taiwan, ROC

Abstract

Determination of melt rheological behavior within micro-structured geometry is very important for the accurate
simulation modeling of micro-molding. Yet investigation of micro-melt rheology is difficult due to the lack of
commercial equipment. In this study, melt viscosity measurement system for polymer melt flowing through micro-
channel was established using a micro-channel mold operated at a mold temperature as high as the melt
temperature. Form measured pressures and volumetric flow rate both capillary flow model and slit flow model
were used for the calculation of viscosity utilizing Rabinowitsch and Walters corrections. It was found that the
measured viscosity values in the test ranges are significantly lower (about 30% to 80% lower) than those obtained
from traditional capillary rheometer no matter what capillary flow model or slit model are used for analysis. As
micro-channel size decreases, the percentage reduction in viscosity also increases. This indicates microscopic scale
melt rheological behavior is different from that of macroscopic scale and that current simulation packages are not
suitable for micro-molding simulation without considering this difference.
D 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Melt rheology; Micro-channel; Rabinowitsch correction; Shear-thinning; Shape factor

1. Introduction

Injection molding of plastics for microsystem products gradually shows its great commercial potential
in this new century. Many micro and micro-featured devices such as micro-sampling cell [1], micro-heat
B
Communicated by J.P. Hartnett and W.J. Minkowycz.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 3 265 4312; fax: +886 3 265 4349.
E-mail address: shiachun@cycu.edu.tw (S.C. Chen).

0735-1933/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2004.07.004
502 S.C. Chen et al. / Int. Commun. Heat and Mass Tranf. 32 (2005) 501–510

exchangers [2], micro-pumps, optical grating elements [3], biochip [4], etc., has been successfully
injection-molded. As micro-molding attracts more and more attention nowadays, using computer
simulation tool to solve difficult molding issues becomes inevitable trend. Recent studies [5–8] indicate
that existing simulation package is no longer sufficient to describe all the effects in micro-molding,
especially for small dimensions of micro-parts. The inadequacy might be attributed to the following
limitations involved in the standard modeling. The rheological data used in the current simulation
packages are obtained from measurements of macroscopic scale. The macroscopically measured
viscosities may not be suitable for modeling melt flows through microscale dimensions. Microscale
surface effect may also play significant effects depending on order of magnitude of viscosity value,
roughness of cavity surface or even wall slip condition. Micro-behavior of heat transfer may also play a
significant role [6]. Viscoelasticity, found to be important when melt flow through gate [8], may not be
negligible in the modeling. Our previous studies on thin-wall injection molding also revealed that the
prediction of injection pressure from current simulation package may be as high as 50% difference [9].
The transient behavior of materials properties during fast molding period may exhibit certain difference
with measured properties conducted close to an equilibrium state. Investigation of micro-melt rheology
is difficult due to the lack of commercial equipment and suitable devices. So far no relevant study was
reported except one for hot embossing of microstructures [7], which measures the transient extensional
melt viscosity suitable for very small shear rate.
In the present study, the measurement of melt viscosity within small dimension geometry was
conducted. A mold with micro-channels of square cross-section was designed and operated at a mold
temperature same as the melt temperature. From the measured pressures obtained from pressure
transducers and melt volumetric flow rate, one can calculate the viscosity values using capillary flow
model and slit flow model combined with Rabinowitsch and Walter corrections, correspondingly. The
measured viscosity values are compared with those measured by traditional capillary rheometer.

2. Flow models description

Two flow models (capillary and slit flow models, described in the following, respectively) were used
to analyze the rheological behavior and calculate the viscosity of molten polymer melt flowing through
micro-channels of square cross-section.

3. Capillary flow model

Capillary viscometer is a most common instrument used for measuring melt viscosity dependence on
shear rate and temperature. In the test, the molten polymer in a reservoir is forced to flow by a piston
under a given pressure through a capillary. Form the amount of melt existing from the capillary per unit
of time and the required pressure drop across the capillary one can calculate the melt viscosity at a
specified shear rate. The apparent shear rate (ċ w(app)) and the apparent shear stress (s w(app)) at the wall for
Newtonian fluids are given by [10]

4Q
ċcwðappÞ ¼ ð1Þ
pR3
 S.C. Chen et al. / Int. Commun. Heat and Mass Tranf. 32 (2005) 501–510 503

and
DP
swðappÞ ¼ R ð2Þ
2L
respectively. In these equations, R is the radius of the capillary having a length L, Q is the volumetric
flow rate through the capillary under a pressure drop DP along the capillary. Furthermore, two
corrections are commonly applied to capillary data to obtain the correct viscosity of polymeric fluids.
The Rabinowitsch correction [10] corrects the rate of shear at the wall for non-Newtonian liquids. It
changes Eq. (1) to
 
4Q 3 1
ċc wðrealÞ ¼ 3 þ b ð3Þ
pR 4 4
where b is the slope of log ċw(app) versus log s w (correlated in a bi-logarithmic coordinate system). In
addition, the Bagley correction [10] takes care of non-ideality arising from viscous and elastic effect at
the entrance to the capillary. The effective length of a capillary is greater than its true length. The shear
stress at the wall of Eq. (2) becomes
DP DP  P0
swðrealÞ ¼   ¼ ð4Þ
L 2L
2 þe
R R
where e is Bagley correction factor and P 0 is the pressure drop corresponding to a capillary of zero
length for a given rate of shear, respectively. After correction, the real viscosity of molten polymer can be
obtained by dividing real shear stress by real shear strain rate as follows:
sreal
gðrealÞ ¼ : ð5Þ
ċc real
For typical log g and log ċ curve, over the usual accessible shear rate range, the viscosity decreases
nearly linearly with shear rate. This is known as shear-thinning region and is usually described by the
power law
g ¼ mċc n1 ð6Þ
where m is the consistency index, and n is the power law index.

4. Slit flow model

Another instrument for measuring the rheological behavior of molten polymers is the slit viscometer,
which has the same measuring principle as capillary rheometers. In the test, the molten polymer in a
reservoir is also forced to flow by a piston under a pressure through a slit die. The amount of polymer
existing from the slit die per unit of time ( Q) at a given pressure drop (DP) allows one to calculate the
viscosity. The apparent shear rate and the real shear stress at the wall for Newtonian fluids are given by [10]

6Q
ċcwðappÞ ¼ ð7Þ
wh2
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and  
h  DPreal
swðrealÞ ¼ ð8Þ
2 L
respectively. In these equations, w and h are the width and thickness of the slit having a length L, Q is the
volumetric flow rate through the slit under a pressure drop DP along the slit. In addition, two corrections
are commonly applied to slit data to obtain the correct viscosity of polymeric fluids. The Walter correction
provides the rate of shear at the wall for non-Newtonian liquids. It changes Eq. (7) to
 
6Q 2 1
ċcwðrealÞ ¼ 2 þ b ð9Þ
wh 3 3
where b is the slope of log ċ w(app) versus log s w similar to Rabinowitsch correction in capillary flow model.
Furthermore, the edge effect of shear stress shall be carried out when the ratio of width to thickness is less
than 10. The wall shear stress of Eq. (8) becomes
 
wh  DPreal
swðrealÞ ¼ ð10Þ
2ðw þ hÞ L
After correction, the real viscosity of polymer melt can be obtained by dividing real shear stress by real
shear strain rate same as Eq. (5).

5. Experimental work

A mold designed with micro-channel of square cross-section that allowed sizes varied from 500 Am to
300 Am and 200 Am was used for the experiments (Fig. 1). The Sodick EH30 microinjection molding

Asbestos board

Micro
channel

Fig. 1. Mold with micro-channel insert sealed up with an asbestos board.

 S.C. Chen et al. / Int. Commun. Heat and Mass Tranf. 32 (2005) 501–510 505

Polymer melt in
Inlet
Pressure
Sensor ∆Pinlet

∆Ptotal ∆Pmicro−channel

∆Poutlet
Outlet
Pressure
Sensor ∆Ptotal = ∆Pinlet +
Polymer melt out
∆Pmicro −channel + ∆Poutlet

Fig. 2. Schematic of pressure drop when melt flowing through micro-channel.

machine combined with a mold temperature control unit capable of heating coolant to 250 8C was
utilized as a pressure source to conduct the experiment. In addition, mold insert is sealed up by an
asbestos board (Fig. 1) to stabilize the mold temperature. High-fluidity class ABS (Acrylonitrile–
Butadiene–Styrene-Copolymer) resin (grade PA-756) from CHI MEI was utilized as the material. The
extrusion experiments of the polymer melt was conducted at test temperatures of 200 8C and 210 8C and
screw speed allows apparent shear rates ranging approximately from 500 to 104 s1 (injection pressures
are 40, 60, 80 and 100 MPa, respectively). On the core side, two pressure transducers (Kisler, type
6159A) were flush mounted near inlet and outlet positions of micro-channel as shown in Fig. 2 to
measure the pressure drop when polymer melt flowing through the micro-channel. The pressure can be

Fig. 3. (a) Cavity pressure profile measured from pressure sensor at inlet position. (b) Enlarged cavity pressure variation at inlet
region of micro-channel.
506 S.C. Chen et al. / Int. Commun. Heat and Mass Tranf. 32 (2005) 501–510

Table 1
Rabinowitsch correction values for capillary flow
Temperature (8C) Channel size
200 Am 300 Am 500 Am
200 3.10 2.76 3.58
210 3.19 2.82 3.07

recorded, analyzed and displayed by interface developed using @Labview software. The pressure will
reach a static peak value when melt exists the outlet of the cavity end as seen in Fig. 3a. The total
pressure drop (DP total) was composed of inlet pressure drop (DP inlet), pressure drop within micro-
channel (DP micro-channel) and outlet pressure drop (DP outlet). The pressure will rise very sharply in the
micro-channel due to the great flow resistance whereas the pressure variation is smooth in both inlet and
outlet of micro-channel area. This is clearly seen in Fig. 3b. Assuming that inlet pressure drop DP inlet is
equal to outlet pressure drop DP outlet, then DP micro-channel, pressure drop within micro-channel, can be
obtained by deduction of DP inlet and DP outlet from the total pressure drop. Another method is to
determine the total pressure drop is to record the time when melt arrives at the second pressure
transducer. The difference of pressure values between two sensors determines the total pressure drop.
Calibration of pressure sensors were also performed by switching positions both sensors. In both
methods mentioned, the measured pressure drops are in a difference of less than 3%. Therefore, the
former method is used for the subsequent analyses. Then from measured data of flow rate and pressure
drop, using both of capillary and slit flow models, one can obtain the dependence of the true melt shear
viscosity (g N) on the shear rate (c˙N) for the polymer melt at the test temperature.

6. Results and discussions

Micro-channel of square cross-section must be converted into an equivalent radius if capillary flow
model was adopted. In addition, the equivalent radius must multiply shape factors of 1.117 due to higher
surface area resulting in higher flow resistance. Tables 1 and 2 show the Rabinowitsch correction and the
Walter correction b values, respectively, which is obtained from slope on the plot of apparent shear rate
versus wall shear stress. Variation of viscosity with shear rate using capillary flow model at melt
temperature 200 8C and 210 8C are illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively. From these figures, it can be
clearly seen that the viscosities of melt in micro-channel show a much lower melt viscosities in micro-
channels of 500 Am, 300 Am and 200 Am size are approximately 32%, 43% and 74%, correspondingly,
lower than those measured from traditional capillary rheometer. It was also found that the viscosity
decreases with decreasing dimension of micro-channel. Graphical displays of viscosity curve for ABS

Table 2
Walter correction values for silt flow
Temperature (8C) Channel size
200 Am 300 Am 500 Am
200 2.89 2.86 3.57
210 3.18 2.86 3.10
 S.C. Chen et al. / Int. Commun. Heat and Mass Tranf. 32 (2005) 501–510 507

1.0E+4
Channel 500 (µm)
Channel 300 (µm)
Channel 200 (µm)
Viscosity by Traditional Capillary Rheometer
Viscosity (Pa-s)
1.0E+3

1.0E+2

Viscosity of Capillary Flow Model

at Melt Temperature 200 ° C
1.0E+1
1.0E+2 1.0E+3 1.0E+4 1.0E+5
Shear Rate (1/s)

Fig. 4. Melt viscosity curves analyzed by capillary flow model at temperature 200 8C.

melt using slit flow model and Walter correction can be found in Figs. 6 and 7 at temperatures of 200 8C
and 210 8C, respectively. The results show the same tendency as compared with that analyzed from
capillary flow model. For detailed comparison of viscosity curve between using capillary flow model
and 200 8C and slit flow model in micro-channel 500 Am and 200 Am are illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, for
melt temperature 210 8C. From these two figures, it was found that viscosity derived from capillary flow
model only have 2%–6% higher values than slit flow model. Generally, viscosity in micro-channel 200
Am shows approximately 50–70% lower value than that obtained from traditional capillary rheometer at
the same shear rate. This indicates that polymer melt flowing through micro-channel shows significantly
different rheological behavior from that of traditional capillary rheometer. Although the viscosity value

1.0E+4
Channel 500 (µm)
Channel 300 (µm)
Channel 200 (µm)
Viscosity by Traditional Capillary Rheometer
Viscosity (Pa-s)

1.0E+3

1.0E+2

Viscosity of Capillary Flow Model

at Melt Temperature 210 ° C
1.0E+1
1.0E+2 1.0E+3 1.0E+4 1.0E+5
Shear Rate (1/s)

Fig. 5. Melt viscosity curves analyzed by capillary flow model at temperature 210 8C.
508 S.C. Chen et al. / Int. Commun. Heat and Mass Tranf. 32 (2005) 501–510

1.0E+4
Channel 500 (µm)
Channel 300 (µm)
Channel 200 (µm)
Viscosity by Traditional Capillary Rheometer

Viscosity (Pa-s) 1.0E+3

1.0E+2

Viscosity by Slit Flow Model

at Melt Temperature 200 °C
1.0E+1
1.0E+2 1.0E+3 1.0E+4 1.0E+5
Shear Rate (1/s)

Fig. 6. Melt viscosity curves analyzed by slit flow model at temperature 200 8C.

obtained from traditional capillary rheometer may not be appropriate for micro-molding simulation, the
simulation indicates only 2 8C melt temperature rise within the micro-channels. Due to the short length
of the micro-channel in the current mold, the viscous heating effect seems to be not significant in the
present study and can be neglected during the viscosity calculation.

7. Conclusion

In the present study, the measurement system of melt rheological property flowing through micro-
channel was established. Both of capillary flow model and slit flow model were used to analyze the

1.0E+4
Channel 500 (µm)
Channel 300 (µm)
Channel 200 (µm)
Viscosity by Traditional Capillary Rheometer
Viscosity (Pa-s)

1.0E+3

1.0E+2

Viscosity by Slit Flow Model

at Melt Temperature 210 °C
1.0E+1
1.0E+2 1.0E+3 1.0E+4 1.0E+5
Shear Rate (1/s)

Fig. 7. Melt viscosity curves analyzed by slit flow model at temperature 210 8C.
 S.C. Chen et al. / Int. Commun. Heat and Mass Tranf. 32 (2005) 501–510 509

Fig. 8. Comparison of melt viscosities analyzed from slit and capillary flow model at melt temperature 200 8C.

measured data. Influence of size of micro-channel on the melt viscosities was investigated. Calculated
results of viscosity from two models at various melt temperatures were also compared with those of
viscosity from traditional capillary rheometer. Based on the measured results, the following conclusions
can be made:

1. Although there is no analytical model suitable for melt flow within micro-channel of square cross-
section. One can obtain the melt shear viscosity at some specified operation temperature using
capillary flow model and slit flow model and the associated correction factors approximately. The
calculated viscosity values are found to be very close from both models, and the differences ranges
from about 2% to 6%.

Fig. 9. Comparison of melt viscosities analyzed from slit and capillary flow model at melt temperature 210 8C.
510 S.C. Chen et al. / Int. Commun. Heat and Mass Tranf. 32 (2005) 501–510

2. The viscosity of polymer melt in the micro-channel is lower than that measured from conventional
capillary rheometer. For ABS polymer melt at temperature 200 8C, the associated viscosity (by
capillary flow model) flowing through micro-channel is about approximately 32%, 43% and 74%
lower than those measured from traditional capillary rheometer for micro-channels of size 500 Am,
300 Am and 200 Am, respectively. The reduction of melt viscosity within micro-channel becomes
more significant when size of micro-channel decreases.
3. The study also indicates that proper modeling of melt rheological behavior within micro-structured
geometry is very important for the accurate micro-molding simulation.

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