TY - JOUR
T1 - Solution Blow Spinning of High-Performance Submicron Polyvinylidene Fluoride Fibres: Computational Fluid Mechanics Modelling and Experimental Results
AU - Rasheed, Aatif
AU - Combrinck, Madeleine
AU - Khaliq, Jibran
AU - Hassanin, Ahmed
AU - Shehata, Nader
AU - Elnabawy, Eman
AU - Shyha, Islam
PY - 2020/5/16
Y1 - 2020/5/16
N2 - Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate characteristics of high-speed air as it is expelled from a solution blow spinning (SBS) nozzle using a k-ε turbulence model. Air velocity, pressure, temperature, turbulent kinetic energy and density contours were generated and analysed in order to achieve an optimal attenuation force for fibre production. A bespoke convergent nozzle was used to produce polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fibres at air pressures between 1 and 5 bar. The nozzle comprised of four parts: a polymer solution syringe holder, an air inlet, an air chamber, and a cap that covers the air chamber. A custom-built SBS setup was used to produce PVDF submicron fibres which were consequently analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) for their morphological features. Both theoretical and experimental observations showed that a higher air pressure (4 bar) is more suitable to achieve thin fibres of PVDF. However, fibre diameter increased at 5 bar and intertwined ropes of fibres were also observed.
AB - Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate characteristics of high-speed air as it is expelled from a solution blow spinning (SBS) nozzle using a k-ε turbulence model. Air velocity, pressure, temperature, turbulent kinetic energy and density contours were generated and analysed in order to achieve an optimal attenuation force for fibre production. A bespoke convergent nozzle was used to produce polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fibres at air pressures between 1 and 5 bar. The nozzle comprised of four parts: a polymer solution syringe holder, an air inlet, an air chamber, and a cap that covers the air chamber. A custom-built SBS setup was used to produce PVDF submicron fibres which were consequently analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) for their morphological features. Both theoretical and experimental observations showed that a higher air pressure (4 bar) is more suitable to achieve thin fibres of PVDF. However, fibre diameter increased at 5 bar and intertwined ropes of fibres were also observed.
U2 - 10.3390/polym12051140
DO - 10.3390/polym12051140
M3 - Article
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 12
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 5
M1 - 1140
ER -