Modeling Web Tension Dynamics Considering Thermal and Viscoelastic Effects: Simulations and Experiments

In this paper, a governing equation for web tension considering thermal and viscoelastic effects in a multi-span system is developed. The thermal effect is included in the web tension dynamics by considering the thermal strain induced by temperature distribution in the web span. The viscoelastic effect is introduced by using a standard linear solid (SLS) model from which a relationship between the applied stress and the resulting strain is obtained. Elevated temperature creep and stress relaxation experiments are conducted on several web materials used in an industrial web processing line to determine the viscoelastic parameters of the utilized viscoelastic model. Model simulations are conducted with the same control systems as those used in an industrial web processing line. Data from model simulations are compared with measured data obtained from the industrial web processing line.