Rheology of PVC Plastisol: Particle Size Distribution and Viscoelastic Properties

Plastisols of poly(vinyl chloride), PVC, are suspensions of fine particles in plasticizer with about 50% resin volume fraction. Typically, the gross particle size ranges from 15 to 0.2 &mgr;m and smaller, where the common practice of spray-drying these resins and subsequent grinding of larger particles dictate the size ranges including agglomerates as well as the primary particles. The plastisol is a pastelike liquid, which may be spread to coat substrates. The coated substrates are heated in an oven to gel and fuse the material for producing uniform, rubbery products. Because the first step of processing is spreading the plastisol on a substrate, rheology at room temperature is obviously important. The material is thixotropic under very low stress. The flow behavior is pseudoplastic and exhibits dilatancy and fracture at high shear rate. This work is concerned with the pseudoplastic behavior but the dynamic mechanical measurements are employed instead of the usual steady-state shear flow measurements. This is because the steady shear may break up agglomerates. The dynamic measurements with small strain-amplitude avoid the break-up of the agglomerates. This is important, because this work is concerned with the effects of the particle size distribution on the material behavior. The frequency dependence of both viscous and elastic behavior is recorded and presented with samples varying in particle size distribution. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.