Tire Rubber Extrudate Swell Simulation and Verification with Experiments

Extrudate swell simulations and experiments have been performed with a viscoelastic tire rubber compound at high flow rates through a circular die. A 3-mode PTT model was fitted onto rheological data of the rubber. The PTT model covers the range of shear rates present in the simulation. Convergence of the simulation was achieved with some wall slippage. The simulated and experimental extrudate swell is in good agreement at 20 mm from the die exit for a wide range of flow rates.