13 Screw Design
Screw design was touched upon briefly in Chapter
12 while discussing polymer behavior in the extruder
and the different segments in screw configurations
required for feeding, conveying, melting, mixing,
venting or devolatilization, downstream feeding, and
pumping molten polymer to the die. This chapter will
discuss the particular screw elements in more detail
to provide a better insight into which elements to use
in particular situations.
The available barrel sections determine the screw
length. Assume a particular extruder has 10-barrel
sections, each barrel section L/D (length-to-diameter
ratio) is 4:1, and the screw diameter is 60 mm. When
designing the screw configuration, what is the screw
element length in millimeters required to completely
fill the screw shafts? Each barrel section with a barrel
L/D of 4:1 is 240 mm long (60
4 ¼ 240 mm); with
10-barrel sections present, the screw length is
2400 mm. The actual screw shafts are slightly shorter
than 2400 mm; with 2400 mm of screw element
length, the screw tips force the elements tightly toge-
ther, preventing polymer from flowing between the
screw elements on the shaft. The tip is threaded into
the end of the screw shaft; it is tightened, squeezing the
screw elements together since the last element extends
past the end of the shaft. When constructing the screw
configuration (placing the elements on the shafts),
verify that each element mating surface is flat with no
scratches or nicks and that the shaft and inside surface
of the screw elements are clean. Screw elements slide
onto the screw shafts easily. Shafts and keyways have
a thin coat of antisieze applied to them during screw
construction to assist element removal at a later date
when changing the screw design. It is advisable to lap
the end of each element on a flat surface with fine
emery cloth prior to assembly. Excess antisieze is
avoided; otherwise, it builds up between the elements,
preventing a good contact seal that allows polymer to
flow between the elements. If polymer flows between
the elements in high-pressure regions of the screw
during processing, over time the polymer degrades
and chars, making element removal very difficult.
Figure 13.1 shows a new screw design that is ready for
Extrusion. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-4377-3481-2.00013-2
Copyright Ó 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Figure 13.1 Setup for assembly of new screw
design.
assembly. The screw shafts are clean, a screw config-
uration or design is available to use as a guide in
assembling the screws, and the appropriate screw
elements are arranged in identical pairs, ready to be
inserted on to the screw shafts.
Screw elements are available in discrete lengths to
be combined in any of a number of ways to provide
flexibility in locating the melting, mixing, conveying,
feeding, etc. zones in unique configurations for
different product formulations. Screw design con-
figurations are the key to operating efficiency. By
designing the operating stepsdi.e. melting, mixing,
addition of other ingredients, venting, and so forthd
to optimize the melt temperature, die pressure, and
throughput rates, each extruder is optimized for the
processes and products being produced on that
extruder.
13.1 Conveying
Available conveying elements have a distinct
pitch, a defined length, and a specific conveying
direction. The screw element nomenclature is pitch/
length, so that a 60/60 element has a 60-mm pitch (a
flight makes one complete revolution around the
screw element every 60 mm in length), and its length
is 60 mm. A 60/30 element has a 60-mm pitch and
a 30-mm length. Forward conveying elements move
171
172
material down the barrel from the feed throat to the
die, whereas rear conveying elements move material
back toward the feed throat. Figure 13.2 shows
forward and rear conveying elements.
Figure 13.2 Conveying screw elements.
The pitch influences the percent fill in intermeshing
extruders. A large-pitch element after a melt seal or
restrictive element has a low percent fill. As the screw
pitch is reduced, the percent fill increases. A sche-
matic for this is shown in Figure 13.3. As the pitch
Figure 13.3 Degree of fill with different pitch
conveying elements.
decreases, the mean residence time in the extruder
increases, since the material must make more revo-
lutions around the screw shaft to be conveyed forward
the same distance in the barrel. An example is a 60/60
element; the material makes one complete revolution
while moving downstream 60 mm. Material in a 30/30
element must make two revolutions to move forward
by 60 mm.
Pitch is normally related to the element diameter.
Conveying elements shown in Figure 13.2 are from
a 40-mm corotating, intermeshing twin screw extruder.
A 60-pitch element is 1.5 times the diameter or 1.5D.
Large-pitch elements normally have a 1.5D or 2D
pitch. In a 90-mm twin screw extruder, large-pitch
elements have either a 135- or 180-mm pitch. A typical
large-pitch element on a 90-mm twin screw might be
180/180 or 135/90. Large-pitch elements have the
lowest percent fill and the highest conveying rate. They
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are normally used in either the feed or venting section.
Medium-pitch conveying elements are approximately
1D or 45/45 on a 45-mm extruder, 60/60 on a 60-mm
extruder, or 90/90 on a 90-mm extruder. (The element
length does not have to equal the pitch, as suggested in
the examples above. A 90-mm extruder may be a 90/45
element, where the flights complete a 1/2 revolution
and the element is 45 mm long.) Medium-pitched
elements have medium conveying speed with a higher
percent fill compared to large-pitch conveying
elements. They are used for feed or melt compression
after large-pitch conveying in either a feed zone or
venting area. Small-pitch conveying elements have the
slowest forward conveying speed and the highest
percent fill. Their pitch is normally 0.25De0.75D.
These elements have the maximum percent fill without
generating significant melt pressure and are used for
pumping and heat transfer.
Non-inter-meshing twin screw extruder conveying
elements usually employ a square pitch, where the
pitch equals the extruder diameter. A 60-mm
non-inter-meshing extruder square pitch screw has
a 60-mm pitch. Although alternative pitches are
available, square pitch is normally standard.
The screw flights on each conveying element can
vary from one to three. Single flighted elements are
standard for non-inter-meshing twin screw extruders,
while most intermeshing, parallel twin screw
extruders are bilobal, having two lobes or two channel
flights on each element. The early intermeshing,
parallel, corotating twin screw extruders had three
lobes or three flights per element. Most triple flighted
elements in more recent twin screw extruders are
specialized kneading blocks. Single flighted elements
used in two-lobed extruders are principally employed
in the feed section. As mentioned in Chapter 12, the
melt is divided into channels depending on how many
lobes or flights there are in the element design. The
number of polymer channels is given by Eqn (13.1):
Polymer channels ¼ 2=n  1 (13.1)
where n ¼ the number of lobes or flights on each
element.
Single flighted elements have large flight widths
with a very good pumping efficiency and feed capac-
ity. The shear generated in single flighted elements is
low in comparison to that in multiflighted elements.
Figure 13.4 compares intermeshing screws with single
flighted elements in both corotating and counter-
rotating extruders.
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Single flighted counterrotating
Single flighted corotating
Figure 13.4 Single flighted screw elements.
Double flighted or bilobal elements have been
discussed in detail in Chapters 11 and 12. They are the
standard in the industry today for high torque, high
throughput extruders. Double flighted elements are
normally located downstream from any single flighted
elements, dividing the polymer stream into two
channels. Conveying elements are used principally for
 Feeding
 Conveying
 Downstream feeding
 Devolatilization
 Pumping
Triple flighted elements are still present in older
twin screw extruders. They generate higher shear
than either single or double flighted elements do
because the channel depth is shallower. These
elements are used for the same applications as double
flighted elements in newer machines.
13.2 Mixing Elements
Numerous mixing element designs are available
with different functions based on their geometry.
Kneading blocks are the most common mixing
element. They are characterized by their
 Length
 Stagger or offset angle
 Number and width of disks
 Number of flights
 Conveying direction
Kneading block nomenclature is disc/kneading
block stagger or offset angle/number of disks/
kneading block length. A common 40-mm twin
173
screw kneading block is a 45/5/60 with the first disk
in the vertical direction, the second rotated 45 , the
third rotated another 45 from the second, and so
forth. There are five disks on the kneading block with
an overall length of 60 mm. See Figures 12.12, 12.13,
and 12.16 in Chapter 12 for pictures of standard
kneading blocks. The width of the disk can vary,
depending on the mixing to be accomplished. Wide
disks are used for dispersive mixing, whereas narrow
disks are used in distributive mixing. Figure 13.5
Figure 13.5 Comparison of wide (left) and narrow
kneading blocks.
shows two approximately equal length kneading
blocks with different disk widths. The narrower disks
are more open, allowing polymer to flow around the
blocks in both the forward and reverse directions,
resulting in the melt stream splitting and recombining
numerous times. In the narrow kneading blocks, each
disk has a shoulder on each side of the disk at the
screw element root, resulting in a smaller width disk
to work the polymer.
The ability of the kneading blocks to convey melt
forward in the barrel depends on the individual disk
rotation on each block. Forward conveying kneading
blocks convey polymer toward the die, whereas
reverse kneading blocks convey the melt back toward
the feed throat. With reverse kneading disks, all
polymer flows between the disk gaps as it is conveyed
forward in the extruder. Using a combination of
reverse kneading blocks and/or conveying elements in
succession leads to a significant increase in both melt
pressure and melt temperature. The smaller the stagger
angle, the greater is the reverse flow and work put into
the polymer, yielding better mixing accompanied
by higher melt temperature and pressure. Reverse
kneading blocks, like reverse conveying elements, are
used to develop melt seals before downstream feeding
or venting. Neutral kneading blocks convey material
neither forward nor reverse. Each disk is rotated 90
from the previous disk (Figure 12.16, Chapter 12).
Long, wide, neutral kneading blocks work the polymer
174 E XTRUSION

to a greater degree than forward conveying kneading
blocks do, and to a lesser degree than rearward
conveying kneading blocks. Wide neutral disks tend to
capture the melt pool, leading to dispersive mixing,
while narrow neutral disks divide and recombine the
melt, resulting in distributive mixing.
The stagger angle determines the polymer back-
flow that passes through the gaps between the disks.
The higher the stagger angle, the greater the open
area allowing backflow, with a decreased forward
conveying capacity. A 30/7/45 kneading block has
more forward conveying capacity and less polymer
flowing backward through the gaps toward the feed
throat than a 60/4/45 kneading block has. Neutral
kneading blocks have more open area for backflow
compared to forward conveying kneading blocks,
since they exhibit no forward conveying. If there is
no melt pressure forcing material toward the die,
molten polymer in a neutral kneading disk is as likely
to go forward as backward.
Three-lobe kneading blocks are used in two-lobe
machines to improve mixing in a shorter length.
Transition elements are required to go from two-lobe
to three-lobe elements and then back to two-lobe
elements after the kneading blocks.
Table 13.1 shows the relative characteristics of the
different kneading blocks for mixing and conveying
performance.
Other specialized mixing elements are available
from different twin screw manufacturers. Farrel
Corporation has its patented Polygon element for
distributive mixing and the continuous mixing ele-
ment for dispersive mixing, shown in Chapter 12,
Figure 12.17. The Polygon is a six-flighted kneading
block with a reverse pitch that has multiple screw-
to-screw clearances as the screw rotates. The continuous
mixing element has both forward and reverse pitch
angles. This particular geometry evolved from Farrel’s
continuous mixer technology. Numerous companies
have gear or turbine-type mixing elements, shown in
Chapter 12, Figure 12.14. Although each manufacturer
has slight variations on its gear mixer geometry, they are
all designed to convey material forward in the barrel
while dividing and recombining the melt stream to
provide distributive mixing. Although gear mixers are
typically used for mixing liquid additives with molten
polymer, they have been tried with glass fibers and other
applications. Gear teeth are arranged to provide
a forward, reverse, or neutral conveying. The number of
gear teeth is varied to change the mixing intensity.
Orifice disks or blister rings are used for dispersive
mixing. These elements form a flow barrier that creates
100% fill prior to the disk. Single kneading elements,
shown in Figure 12.15, Chapter 12, and Figure 11.24,
Chapter 11, are used for dispersive mixing and reactive
extrusion [1]. Leistritz lobal elements are used in
both corotating and counterrotating extruders and
can be forward, reverse, or neutral conveying. Lobal
elements shown in Figure 13.6 are designed to run at
100% fill.
In intermeshing twin screw extruders, most
elements are self-wiping and self-cleaning, meaning
the rotating screws continuously wipe the molten
resin from each other and the barrel walls, respec-
tively, during processing to prevent polymer build-up
and degradation over time. Most intermeshing

Table 13.1 Effect of Kneading Block Size and Type on Processing

Narrow Wide
Narrow Narrow Wide Wide
Neutral Neutral
Forward Reverse Forward Reverse
Kneading Kneading
Conveying Conveying Conveying Conveying
Block Block
Conveying Good Negative None Poor Negative None
efficiency
Distributive Good Excellent Excellent Poor Okay Okay
mixing
Dispersive Poor Okay Good Excellent Excellent Excellent
mixing
Shear heating Low Average Average High Very high High
Pressure Average High High Very high Exceptionally Very high
generation high
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Figure 13.6 Lobal element [1].
twin screw extruders are built to be self-wiping
and self-cleaning. Some mixing elements are non-
self-wiping, such as gear mixers and blister rings.
Care must be taken when using these elements if
the polymer being processed is subject to thermal
degradation over time.
Distributive mixing in non-inter-meshing twin
screw extruders is provided by staggered screw
flights in counterrotating geometry. Optimum mixing
is obtained with 50% adjacent screw flight stagger.
This geometry promotes molten polymer transfer
from one screw to the other screw. During transfer,
the polymer melt is split by the adjacent screw flights.
It recombines with the melt when transferred back to
the original screw. Figure 13.7 shows the non-inter-
Figure 13.7 Distributive mixing non-inter-meshing
twin screw.
175
meshing staggered flights used for mixing. Disper-
sive mixing is obtained using a series of elements
including a blister-type cylinder followed by forward
and then reverse conveying elements. The reverse
conveying element creates 100% fill upstream,
forcing the molten polymer to be worked. Figure 13.8
Figure 13.8 Non-inter-meshing dispersive mixing.
shows a dispersive mixing section in a counter-
rotating, non-inter-meshing twin screw extruder.
13.3 Screw Design Applications
To construct the proper screw design, it is impor-
tant to know the objectives to be accomplished with
the extruder. A sheet containing the barrel sections as
they are configured is combined with the screw
element arrangement to design a screw geometry that
melts, mixes, pumps, conveys, and so forth. As an
example, assume a new screw configuration is being
designed for an intermeshing, corotating extruder
with eight-barrel sections. A typical configuration,
shown in Figure 13.9, has
 Polymer feed in barrel section 1
 Atmospheric or vacuum vent in barrel section 7
 Side feed extruder in barrel section 5
 Venting, gravity feed, or liquid injection ports
in barrel sections 2 and 4
Figure 13.9 Typical barrel
configuration with eight-barrel
sections.
176
Figure 13.10 Typical barrel
configuration with 10-barrel sections.
A 10-barrel configuration is shown in Figure 13.10
with
 Feed in barrel section 1
 Downstream feed via a side feed extruder in
barrel section 6
 Atmospheric or vacuum vent in barrel section 9
 Barrel sections 2, 4, and 8 available for other
feed streams or venting
 Closed barrel sections 3, 5, 7, and 10, where no
material feeding or venting is possible
These two barrel configurations will be used in the
following compounding examples to develop different
screw designs to process specific formulations.
In example 1, two resins, A and B, are to be com-
pounded together to produce a new resin blend, C. Both
resins have similar thermal stability. Resin A is powder,
and resin B is pelletized. The objective is to develop an
appropriate screw design to mix and compound these
ingredients. Although either the 8- or 10-section barrel
configuration will work, Figure 13.11 with eight-barrel
Figure 13.11 Potential screw design to mix resins A and B.
sections shows a screw configuration that meets this
example’s objective. Both resins A and B are fed into
the feed throat with two different gravimetric resin
feeders to maintain the proper resin A to B ratio. The
formulation is preheated and compressed in barrel
sections 2 and 3 and melted in barrel section 4. The
melt is conveyed downstream with additional mixing
in barrel sections 5 and 6 and vented to remove any
volatiles in barrel section 7. The vent can be either an
E XTRUSION
atmospheric or vacuum vent, depending on the volatile
concentration and how hard it is to remove. The melt is
pumped to the die in barrel section 8. The left-handed
kneading block and left-handed conveying elements in
barrel section 4 ensure a restrictive barrier and
complete melting in barrel section 4. The left-handed
elements at the end of barrel section 6 provide a melt
seal to improve vacuum venting at the vent in barrel
section 7. Mixing elements used in sections 5 and 6
ensure both good distributive and good dispersive
mixing. The screw elements used in these examples are
based on a 40-mm corotating, intermeshing twin screw
extruder. To scale up from a 40-mm extruder to a larger
diameter extruder, first calculate the ratio of element
length and element pitch to the element diameter. Then
apply the calculated ratios from the small diameter
extruder to the larger diameter extruder to obtain the
scaled length and pitch. As an example, assume this is
to be scaled to a 60-mm twin screw. The 60/60
conveying element in the 40-mm extruder feed section
is 1.5 times the pitch and 1.5 times the length. A similar
element in a 60-mm extruder is a 90/90 SK screw
element. The 40/40 in the 40 mm becomes a 60/60 in
the 60 mm, and the 25/25 conveying element in the
40 mm becomes approximately a 40/40 in the 60 mm.
This 60-mm screw design is another design that will
accomplish the objective. Any particular screw design
used in a specific production or R&D environment
needs to be optimized for the resins and formulations
being produced.
13: S CREW D ESIGN
For example 2, let us use the same resin formu-
lation in the example above with the same barrel
configuration, but with resin B that is more thermally
stable than resin A.
Consequently, resin A is added to the resin B melt
downstream. What is an appropriate screw design to
accomplish the objective in this second example?
Figure 13.12 shows a screw modification to feed
Figure 13.12 Screw configuration for example 2dresins A and B fed in different barrel locations.
resin A downstream, with the side feed extruder, and
provides acceptable melt mixing with resin B prior to
the vent.
The third example has resins A and B added to
the extruder in barrel section 1 and filler added
downstream at 30% by weight. As it is filler being
added and not a reinforcement that requires good
dispersion, there is no concern for particle attrition.
The 10-barrel extruder configuration is used for
this example. Figure 13.13 shows a screw design
Figure 13.13 Resins A and B are fed in barrel 1 and filler in the side feed extruder.
that adds filler downstream with the side feed
extruder. Melting of resins A and B, added at the
feed throat in barrel section 1, is complete by
barrel section 4. If the two resins require additional
mixing before filler addition, it can be done in
177
barrel section 5 by replacing the conveying
elements with kneading blocks. Filler is added in
barrel section 6 by a side feed extruder, heated and
compressed in barrel 7, and mixed in barrel 8. The
vent in barrel 9 removes any volatiles or gases
entrapped in the melt.
In a fourth example, similar to example 3, the filler
is replaced with a fiber reinforcement fed down-
stream through a side feed extruder. Figure 13.14
shows a screw design to process the reinforcing fiber,
where the major concern is fiber attrition. The melt
section is changed slightly from example 3 to
example 4 by separating the kneading blocks with
conveying elements. This helps to minimize the melt
temperature rise by decreasing the work in the
kneading blocks. Kneading blocks are not used after
the side feed extruder to minimize fiber attrition. The
left-handed conveying element prior to the vent was
removed, decreasing the shear and fiber attrition.
In a last screw design example, use the situation in
example 4 with fiber reinforcement, but add a liquid
colorant to the formulation so the resulting product is
a colored reinforced thermoplastic composite. The
178
Figure 13.14 Screw design to process fiber reinforcements with downstream feeding.
Figure 13.15 Compounding of two resins with liquid colorant and reinforcement.
colorant is pumped into the resin melt in barrel section
4. Figure 13.15 shows an appropriate screw design to
add liquid with the proper mixing. Gear mixers can be
used in place of the kneading blocks in barrel section 5
to mix the liquid colorant. In all examples presented
here, specialized mixing elements are intentionally
avoided to gain a better understanding of what can be
accomplished with conveying elements and standard
kneading blocks. Melting is complete in barrel section
3, and the liquid is injected into barrel section 4 and
mixed with kneading blocks in barrel sections 4 and 5.
Although conveying elements are used where the
liquid is injected, it is possible to inject liquid directly
over kneading blocks or gear mixers, assuming that
the pressure supplied by the liquid feed pump is
greater than the melt pressure generated in the
extruder. Barrel sections 6e10, where the reinforcing
fiber is fed and the extruder is vented, are essentially
unchanged from example 4.
E XTRUSION
These examples demonstrate appropriate screw
designs and an understanding of how to arrange the
various screw elements to accomplish specific
objectives. In actual practice, screw designs may
have to be modified slightly for different formulation
components to obtain
 Optimum throughput
 Dispersive and distributive mixing
 Correct melt temperature profile
 Optimum feed locations
Reference
[1] W. Thiele, Reactive compounding with your
extruder, Plastics Formulating & Compounding, 2
(6) (1996).
13: S CREW D ESIGN 179

Review Questions
1. What is the difference between conveying elements and kneading blocks?
2. What preparation is required for constructing a new screw design?
3. What are some typical large-pitch conveying screw elements for 135-, 57-, and 90-mm twin screw
extruders?
4. What are some typical small-pitch conveying elements for 30-, 45-, and 60-mm twin screw extruders?
5. What are the differences between forward and reverse conveying elements and forward, reverse, and
neutral kneading blocks?
6. What are the differences between single flighted, double flighted, and triple flighted conveying
elements?
7. What are some mixing elements other than kneading blocks, and do they work better as distributive or
dispersive mixers?
8. Design a screw to make a color concentrate (liquid colorant) on the eight-barrel extruder shown at
below. The extruder is 60 mm in diameter, and each barrel section has a 4:1 L/D. Determine what
elements to use based on the extruder size, and arrange them in the proper screw configuration to
produce an acceptable product for the customer.

9. Develop a screw design to plasticize resin C by adding a liquid plasticizer to the extruder. The
formulation calls for 75% resin C and 25% plasticizer. Use a 45-mm twin screw corotating, inter-
meshing extruder with the same barrel geometry shown in question 8 with a 4:1 L/D barrel ratio.
10. Develop a screw design and define the process to compound resin D with a two-component flame
retardant system (both flame retardant ingredients are powdersd3% S and 7% H in the final
formulation), a reinforcing fiber at 22% of the final formulation, and a liquid colorant at 4.5% of the
total formulation. Use the 10-barrel, 40-mm twin screw extruder shown below, assuming a 4:1 L/D
barrel ratio.