Simulation of melt spinning including flow-induced crystallization. I: Model development and predictions. (Q1581520)

The authors apply a microstructural flow-induced crystallization model, a compromise between molecular and continuum approaches, to melt spinning, and thus extend previous research to non-homogeneous non-isothermal flows, including in their analysis the effects of viscoelasticity, crystallization, air drag, inertia, surface tension and gravity. A system of strongly coupled differential equations is solved approximately as an initial value problem via variable step Runge-Kutta methods combined with shooting. Extensive numerical results illustrate the feasibility of the model, which has the potential to be applied as a part of optimisation tools in melt spinning processes.