Abstract: Temperature fields of bolwn film process for ploy(lactic acid) (PLA) and low-density polyethylene (PE-LD) in certain temperature control system were studied through a numerical simulation on the basis of some reasonable assumptions. The model was established by a Fluent software and then verified by the measured results from PE-LD. The results indicated that the simulated values of PE-LD were in good agreement with its measured results in the distance range of 70~110 mm. Although there were some errors in the distance range of 50~70 mm, the whole trend was identical. Summarily, the temperature fields can be predicted for the blowing process of PLA film under different parameter conditions via this simulation method, thus providing guidance for mass production and quality analyses.

Key words: poly(lactic acid), temperature control system, temperature field, numerical simulation, Fluent software