Rheological characterization of polyolefin composites with reduced flammability

Abstract

In this work, the low-flammability halogen-free polyolefin composites were characterized with three rheological methods. In the extrusion process of the studied materials the end-products with a dissimilar surface quality were produced. Therefore, the diverse melt flow behaviours evaluated with common rheological techniques were also expected. Nevertheless, the conventional rotational and capillary rheometries were not able to describe the differences between investigated flame retarded composites in optimal way. Thus, the non-conventional rheological die Shark skin, originally designed to detect flow instabilities, was tested as a third possibility in order to better understand rheology of the filled polymer melts. It was found that the Shark skin technique is able to characterize the studied two kind flame retardants composites and can also be helpful to qualify the production bathes with identical additives/polymer formulation. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.