To Measure the Melt Flow Rate (MFI) of Commercial

INSERT
LOGO Polymer Blends
2018-PE-36, 2018-PE-37, 2018-PE-34, 2018-PE-35, 2018-PE-33, 2018-PE-31, 2018-PE-29, 2018-PE-28
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Abstract Methodology Result

A knowledge of complete flow curve or rheogram of a polymeric melt Weight applied on plunger = 2.16kg
depicting the variation of the melt viscosity over industrially relevant
range of shear rate and temperature is essential in the design of Diameter of plunger = 0.00947m
polymer processing equipment, process optimization and trouble- Area of plunger = 7.05 × 10-3
shooting. These data are generated on sophisticated rheometers
that are beyond the financial and technical means of most plastic Weight of Temperature Time Weight of Melt flow Force Pressure
processors. the only flow parameter available to the processor is the sample (oC) taken material rate (N) F/A
melt flow index of the material. (g) (sec) coming (g/10 (pascal)
The melt flow polymer blends are studied in this experiment. A from MFI mint)
polymer blend is a material in which at least two polymers are (g)
blended together to create new material with different physical
properties.
The materials in this experiment was Soda bottle which is a blend of 7 285 101 1.17 6.95 11.46 1625.53
PET and PVA. Moreover, the other material was Packaging film
which is a blend of HDPE and LDPE. 4 190 569 1.27 1.33 12.44 1764.53

Materials
Soda Bottle, Packaging Film
Objective FIG. 2 Melt Flow Indexer
Introduction
The melt flow index (MFI) is a material characterization test method.
It measures the rate of extrusion of a thermoplastic material through
an orifice of specified length and diameter under prescribed
conditions of temperature and load.
One of the requirements for quality control of thermoplastics is
determination of volume and mass flow rate. The melt flow indexer
can be used to determine melt mass flow rate (MFR) and melt
volume flow rate (MVR). The value obtained from melt flow indexer
is a single data point. Melt Flow extrusion plastometer can be used
to determine the melt mass flow rate (MFR) and melt volume flow
rate (MVR). This test provides a means of measuring flow of a
melted material which can be used to differentiate grades of
polymers, or determine the extent of degradation of the plastic as a
result of moulding. It also determines the uniformity of the flow rate
of the material. The melt index has an inverse relation with the
molecular weight of a material. High molecular weight materials
have a low MI and low molecular weight materials have a high MI.
ASTM D1238 lists specific loads and temperatures for a given
material. Data are reported in grams of extrudate per 10 minutes or
in decagrams per minute.
FIG. 1 Profile of Blends After Experiment
Conclusion
We use two polymer blends, PET and PVA blend and the other
one is LDPE and HDPE blend. Flow rate of the blend of PET and
PVA is large for the blend of LDPE and HDPE because shear
rate in case of blend of PET and PVA is large as compared to
the shear rate of blend of LDPE and HDPE. Which means that
polymer blend of PET and PVA will easily pass through the
extruder as compared to the blend of LDPE and HDPE under
standard condition of temperature and pressure. Polymer
properties basically depends upon microstructure of polymer.
Rheology properties of polymer depends upon molecular
structure and molecular weight of polymeric material.
The material having crystalline structure and high molecular
weight has low MFI and having amorphous structure and low
molecular weight has high MFI value. So from the experiment,
we can conclude that PET-PVA blend has high MFI as compared
to HDPE-LDPE blend because it has low molecular weight and
has amorphous structure.
References
1. ASTM D-1238 Standard test for the measurement of melt flow
rate
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pen.76023110
3
3. “ISO 1133-1:2011 Plastics – Determination of the melt mass-
flow rate (MFR) and melt volume-flow rate (MVR) of
thermoplastics – Part 1: Standard method”
4. Saini, D. R.; Shenoy, A. V. (1983). “A new method for the
determination of flow activation energy of polymer melt”.
Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part B. 22 (3): 437–449.