Sensitivity analysis of low-speed melt spinning of isotactic polypropylene

Linearized sensitivity analysis of fiber spinning has been studied using a two-phase constitutive model that includes the effects of crystallization. The analysis focuses on sensitivity predictions for the low-speed melt spinning of isotactic polypropylene and comparison to the experimental results of Young and Denn [1989, Disturbance propagation in melt spinning. Chemical Engineering Science 44, 1807–1818]. Modifications in an earlier-developed two-phase model enable comparisons of two different constitutive equations for the melt phase, namely the Giesekus and extended pom-pom models. Comparisons with sensitivity data for low-speed spinning conditions demonstrate that the incorporation of crystallization effects leads to improved predictions of the magnitude and trends of the perturbation frequency dependence for both constitutive equations. At low spin speeds where flow-enhanced crystallization effects are negligible, the sensitivity is predicted to decrease with increasing cooling and this trend is also shown to be consistent with increased crystallinity.