Ludovic® v5.4

Ludovic® software simulation of the corotating twin screw process and

optimization of the processed material

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Ludovic® v5.4

Ludovic® is dedicated to the cororating twin screw extruders.

Ludovic® performs simulation of the material evolution during the extrusion process

Ludovic® : simulating a process...

... for improving the productivity

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Ludovic® v5.4

Ludovic® : for corotating twin screw extrusion

Improvement of the material quality

Simulation of the process

Analysis

Comparison of configurations

Optimization of the process

Throughput increase

What you do... ... what you get

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Ludovic® v5.4

Ludovic® : a fast and robust model

Ludovic® performs simulation for the TSE process.

A simulation is a set of input data which is used to determine the history of the material data inside the extruder.

Input data

Screw geometries

Material Characteristics

Process conditions

φ ηScrew Rpm / material flow rate / T°C...

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Ludovic® v5.4

Design of all manufacturers TSE

Ludovic® is able to design all extruders and screw geometries

Customizable screws Design of all screw profiles

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Ludovic® v5.4

Simulating before acting

The Ludovic® simulation gathers all the data dealing with the TSE process

Geometry definitionExtruder characteristicsScrew elements definition

Material CharacteristicsThermal characteristicsViscosity

Process conditionsThermal parametersScrew rotation speedMaterial flow rate

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Ludovic® v5.4

Analysing the process

The Ludovic® simulation provides 3 kind of results :

1. F(x) results

2. Global Results

3. RTD Results

Distribution of thermo-mechanical results along the screw profile

Values of the global system functioning

Distribution of the Residence Time

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Ludovic® v5.4

1. Analysing the results – F(X) Results

The distribution of thermo-mechanical results along the screw profile : Ludovic® displays with accuracy results which are not otherwise easy to acquire.

The ResultsDistribution of thermo-mechanical results along the screw profile

TemperaturePressureViscosityShear RateFilling ratioDissipated energy...

Distribution of thermo-mechanical results along the screw profile

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Ludovic® v5.4

2. Analysing the results – Global Results

Ludovic® computes a balance of the global system state : how is used the energy you provide to the extruder?

The Results

TorqueEngine powerSMEEnergies...

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Ludovic® v5.4

3. Analysing the results - Residence Time Distribution

Ludovic® is a convenient tool to measure the Residence Time.

The RTD is an efficient result to quantify the mixing efficiency of the process.

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Ludovic® v5.4

Design Of Experiments (DOE)

Virtual Designs of Experiments allow to analyse a whole functioning domain for a configuration range of a TSE.

Advanced tools

Evolution of the RTD taking into account the screw rotation speed and the material flow rate

Evolution of the dissipated energy taking into account the screw rotation speed and the material flow rate

Principles

The DOE allows to observe the impact of the parameters variation on the process/material behaviour.

A range of variation for different parameters is defined in Ludovic. In this case we observe the variation of the screw rotation speed and the material flow rate.

As a result, we analyze the impact of those coupled variations on the relevant values for the process/material evolution.

Residence Time

Dissipated Energy

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Ludovic® v5.4

Comparison of simulationsThanks to an integrated environment, Ludovic® holds lots of tool to analyse, optimize and compare the different simulations and their results.

Advanced tools

Comparison

The simulations comparison allows to analyze different configurations of screw designs/process conditions.

In this example, we have different sets of process conditions (material flow rate, screw rotation speed, thermal regulation...).

We compare their impact on the RTD (the upper picture) and the temperature (the bottom window).

At a glance, it is easy to identify the configuration which fits to the material requirements/targets.

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Ludovic® v5.4

Trends analysisThe Trends analysis is an integrated statistical which highlights the correlation between observed results and process parameters.

Advanced tools

Trends

A specific tab is dedicated to the relationship between results and parameters.

Through a statistical model, it computes the correlation link between the results computed by Ludovic® and the parameters defined by the user.

It means that it gives to the users a way to plan the reaction of the machine/material regarding to its choices in terms of process conditions/variations.

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Ludovic® v5.4

Ludovic® : a fast and robust model

Ludovic® is based on a 1D model

FastMultipurposeReliable

Less than 1min computationFor all kind of TSEVery good agreement between simulations and experiments

Thermo-mechanical flow

Ludovic® solves the physics equations of the flow, based on the geometrical discretization of each screw elements as « C Chambers ».

Each screw element is discretized as a C chamber where the computation of the flow takes place

The model

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Ludovic® v5.4

Example : testing the sensitivity of the material

Through the POE, we test the sensitivity of the material regarding to the variation of process conditions. Target : optimizing the output while saving the mixing efficiency

Applications

Range of variation

Screw rotation speed : [250;800] rpmFlow rate : [500;1000] kg/h

Ludovic® sweeps and matches all the values to design a complete Design of Experiments. This DOE underlines the functioning limits of the TSE configuration.

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Ludovic® v5.4

Example : testing the sensitivity of the material

As a result, Ludovic® proposes :3D curves : to analyse the global sensitivity of the materialClassic curve : for the analysis of a given value (of a parameter)Table : for a statistical analysis

Applications

Evolution of the mean residence time, taking into account the variation of screw rotation speed and flow rate

Evolution of the mean residence time taking into account the flow rate evolution for a rotation speed fixed at 450 rpm

Global table of all the DOE values

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Ludovic® v5.4

Example : testing the sensitivity of the materialThe 3D curve describes the complete functioning domain.

But it is possible to add criterions to limit the functioning domain taking into account our production conditions.

In our example, the polymer we use is sensitive to the high temperature. So we determine a max. temperature at 270°C

We also decide to limit the Residence time to avoid high pressure and temperature in the extruder. The max. residence time is fixed at 25s.

By fixing those criterions, we limited the functioning domain to specific areas.The red part of the 3D curves mean that the functioning conditions are out of our criterions.The green part fits to our requests. In this functioning domain, we optimize the ouptuts without degrading the material.

Applications

Complete functioning domainEvolution of the mean residence time, taking into account the variation of screw rotation speed and flow rate

Restricted functioning domain (with application of criterions)Evolution of the mean residence time, taking into account the variation of screw rotation speed and flow rate

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Ludovic® v5.4

Ludovic : a multipurpose tool for TSE simulation

Conclusion

Ludovic is used in R&D applications (for formulation of products)support of production lines (optimization of outputs)

Ludovic allows to Save 30% time in product formulationSave 50% of material in tests and trials (ie : 50% time to market)Control the product qualityOptimize the process

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Ludovic® v5.4

For more information

Conclusion

Do not hesitate to contact SCC for all the questions you might have :

Sciences Computers Consultants10 rue du plateau des glièresF-42000 Saint Etienne +33 4 77 49 75 80scc@scconsultants.comhttp://www.scconsultants.com