A boundary element investigation of extrudate swell

Numerical studies of die swell have until now dealt perimarily with the Maxwell or Oldroyd-B viscoelastic models. However, these models exhibit features that often make them unsuitable for numerical work. Furthermore, they are not realistic representations of actual viscoelastic fluids. In this report a comparison is made between the behaviour of a variety of different viscoelastic models when applied to the die swell problem. A wide range of elongational and shear behaviour is exhibited by the models examined. Both types of behaviour are shown to be important in the die swell problem, and the observed swelling is related to these characteristics of the models.