Is the extensional mixing concept used commercially today?
Yes, every orifice encountered in the melt path, twin-screw kneading blocks, Maddock mixing screws, anywhere where melt velocity accelerates and decelerates uses some component of extensional flow. But it’s not used specifically to mix, although most commercial mixers in use today utilize shear stress to disperse but may also apply some extensional flow stress as an indirect consequence of the polymer accelerating and decelerating as it travels through the mixer. 4.
