Development and comparison of empirical models for a melt spinning process

This thesis considers the melt spinning process of polyethylene terephthalate. The purpose of this thesis is to develop 12 empirical models describing how stick point, tension, and denier per filament (dpf) vary with respect to melt temperature, winder speed, and pump speed.; The Statistical Analysis System (SAS) was used to generated the models. Three types of models were constructed: stick point, average tension, and denier per filament. Each type of empirical model considered four sets of data that differed in spinneret hole size and intrinsic viscosity (IV) level.; The pump speed was the most significant contributor to the stick point models. At low pump speeds, the IV level and hole diameter seemed to have an impact on stick point distance. The slack in tension at high pump speeds and low winder speeds seems override the effects of hole diameter and IV level on stick point distance.; Winder speed was the only significant factor in the average tension models. Comparison of the four average spinline tension models showed that tension increases with IV level and spinneret hole diameter.; Pump speed, winder speed, the interaction between pump speed and winder speed, and melt temperature were contributing factors to the denier per filament models.; Neither spinneret hole size nor polymer IV level is a discriminating factor in the denier per filament models. If fibers had been spun from two different polymers, the difference in denier per filament may have been more dramatic.