Shuichi Tanoue

Numerical simulation of airflow characteristics in the spinning zone at starting time of air-jet spinning machine

To clarify the formation mechanism of a source of yarn and to discuss the effects of supplied air pressure and exhaust air pressure on the fiber suction force and twist torque at the starting time of the spinning process in an air-jet spinning machine, we simulated, numerically, the three-dimensional airflow pattern without fibers in the spinning zone. Results obtained are as follows: High-speed air jetted through the starting nozzles into the yarn duct in the circumferential direction causes a swirl flow in the yarn duct and a negative pressure region near the center axis of the yarn duct. Hence, air and fibers at the fiber inlet are sucked through the processing duct into the yarn duct. A fiber bundle sucked into the yarn duct rotates, owing to the action of the swirl airflow, and twists the fiber bundle in the processing duct, hence generating a source of yarn. The fiber suction force takes a distribution with a peak against the supplied air pressure and is independent of the exhaust air pressure. The fiber twist torque increases monotonously with supplied air pressure.

Simulation of Melt Spinning of Nylon-6 Using the Finite Element Method

The properties of polymer melts are different from those of monomeric materials because polymer materials have crystalline and amorphous regions. In addition, polymer melts exhibit elasticity as well as viscosity. Therefore, the viscoelasticity, crystallinity and temperature of polymer melts must be considered for an accurate simulation of the melt spinning process for crystalline polymers. In this study, we simulated the melt spinning process of Nylon-6 by using the streamline-upwinding finite element method. The non-isothermal Phan-Thien Tanner model proposed by Sugeng and Phan-Thien was employed as a constitutive equation. We investigated the distribution of temperature and crystallinity on the free surface of the filament, and the filament diameter.The calculations were nearly independent of gravity. The primary normal stress increases and the filament diameter decreases with an increase of take-up speed. The filament diameter obtained by the non-isothermal flow simulation is smaller than that for the isothermal case, and the filament diameter depends on the crystallinity. The filament shape for a purely viscous fluid is the same as that for a viscoelastic one.

Numerical study on abrupt contraction flow of viscoelastic fluids including the inertia effect

The viscoelastic flow in a planar abrupt contraction was analyzed including the inertia effect, and the effects of inertia and viscoelasticity on the flow were studied. The Galerkin finite element method was employed as the numerical method. The constitutive model was the simplified Criminale–Ericksen–Filbey (CEF) model which expressed the extra stresses as an explicit function of velocity and deformation rate. We studied the effects of the Reynolds number, the Weissenberg number (the primary normal stress difference) and the elongational viscosity individually on the re‐entrant corner vortex and the entrance pressure drop. As a result, we found the following: (1) as the primary normal stress difference increases, the corner vortex grows up but the entrance pressure drop slightly decreases. (2) The inertia effect reduces the corner vortex produced by the viscoelasticity and increases the entrance pressure drop. (3) The flow fields are significantly influenced by the viscoelasticity in the low flow rate re...