Experimental study and modeling of wall slip of polymethylmethacrylate considering different die surfaces

Wall slip of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) was studied on different flow channel surfaces using a rheological slit die and a high pressure capillary rheometer. As die surfaces polished steel, ground steel, and Si doped Diamond like carbon (DLC) were used. A new wall slip model is presented in this paper which assumes a lubricating film between the polymer melt and the die surface. The slip velocity has a power law dependency on wall shear stress. In the double logarithmic plot the wall slip curves are linear and can be parallel shifted to higher values with increasing temperature. The predicted dependencies of the wall slip velocity could be confirmed with experiments conducted with PMMA on polished steel. Furthermore, the die surface influences the flow behavior of PMMA. No wall slip was found on ground steel and on DLC. No complete film could be established by the lubricant on the ground steel die wall. The DLC-coating exhibits a similar surface roughness and surface energy to polished steel, but the chemical composition is different. It is a metastable form of amorphous carbon containing sp² and sp³ bonds. As a consequence slip additives have a low ability to bond to this material. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 58:1391–1398, 2018.