Rapid Solidification of Polymeric Fibers

A thorough understanding of crystallization kinetics for rapid polymer solidification during the fiber spinning process is a route to maximizing fiber properties while increasing production speeds. We are using theoretical, computational, and experimental models to characterize the crystallization process at the molecular, microscopic, and macroscopic levels. Polymer dependent molecular descriptions, such as the nature and the architecture of polymer molecules are incorporated using molecular modeling techniques. Growth of individual crystals (or crystalline regions) is investigated by micro-scale models, while fiber formation is studied using macroscopic continuum models. These models are being compared with on-line experimental results. Thus, hierarchical models are being developed to describe high speed crystallization in fiber spinning process at every significant hierarchical levels of length and time scales. A clear knowledge on morphology development in the fiber spinning process is still lacking in the literature. Thus, significant effort is devoted towards developing a thorough understanding of morphology development in spinning process.