In the micro-tube gas-assisted extrusion process, flow theories ignoring cross-scale viscoelastic variations fail to effectively characterize the rheological state of the melt. To investigate the impact of cross-scale viscoelastic variation on the quality of the micro-tube gas-assisted extrusion, a 3D multiphase flow extrusion model incorporating a double gas-assisted layer was developed. Subsequently, we modified the DCPP constitutive equations based on the cross-scale factor model. Both the traditional and gas-assisted extrusions were simulated under macroscale and cross-scale models using the Ansys Polyflow. Finally, using the established gas-assisted extrusion platform, extrusion experiments were conducted. The results indicate that, owing to the reduced melt viscosity under the cross-scale model, the deformation behavior of the melt is more pronounced than in the macroscale model. The cross-scale model’s numerical results more closely match the experimental outcomes under the same parameters, thereby confirming the feasibility of the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Moreover, the predictive capability of the cross-scale model for the micro-tube gas-assisted extrusion is further validated through numerical and experimental analyses with varying parameters. It is demonstrated that the cross-scale viscoelastic variation is a critical factor that cannot be overlooked in the gas-assisted extrusion.

In the gas-assisted extrusion process, the melt inside the die is in a low-viscosity molten state, so the flow field of the gas cushion layer has a great effect on the cross-sectional shape of the micro-tube. Therefore, this study establishes the gas distribution chamber model of the gas-assisted die. Ansys Fluent software was used to simulate the gas flow field of the gas distribution chamber. The effect of the gas chamber structure on the size of the micro-tube was analyzed by the extrusion experiment. The research shows that the velocity unevenness coefficient of the gas outlet of the single gas chamber die is 11.8%, which is higher than that of the double gas chamber die. The use of a double gas chamber die can improve the stability of the gas cushion layer and the wall thickness non-uniformity of the micro-tube, which verifies the simulation results.

During the gas-assisted extrusion process of plastic tubes embedded with antibacterial particles, the particles tend to agglomerate. The dispersion effect of these agglomerates using the nozzle-pressure-difference method is significantly influenced by the gas flow state. Therefore, this study establishes the nozzle dispersion model. The gas flow state near the nozzle is simulated and analyzed by using Ansys Fluent software. Gas-assisted extrusion experiments are conducted with different nozzle inlet pressures, and the size distribution of antibacterial particles is observed by using electron microscopy. The simulation results indicate that increasing the nozzle inlet pressure enhances the dispersion effect and expands the effective dispersion area. The experimental results demonstrate that using the nozzle disperses the agglomerates into particles with a diameter of approximately 100 nm. Furthermore, the nanoparticles diameter size decreases with the increase of the inlet pressure, validating the accuracy of the numerical analysis results.

In the process of the double-layer gas-assisted extrusion of plastic micro-tubes, the external size and surface quality of the micro-tubes are greatly affected by the size of the assisting gas inlet slit inside the mold. Therefore, in this experiment, a two-phase flow model was established based on a compressible gas and a non-compressible melt. The Polyflow finite element solution software module was used to solve the velocity field, temperature field, pressure field, and section size of the melt under the condition of double-layer gas-assisted extrusion in a mold under different gas inlet slit widths. The results show that, with an increase in the width of the gas inlet slit, the melt outlet velocity increases, the surface temperature increases, wall thickness shrinkage increases, and interior diameter expansion increases. In the process of gas-assisted extrusion, the thickness of the air cushion is affected by adjusting the size of the gas inlet slit, and, hence, changes the shape and size of the plastic micro-tubes.

Due to the complexity of mold flow channel parameters, they have a significant impact on medical microtubule forming quality during the gas-assisted extrusion process. In this paper, the influence mechanism of mold flow channel parameters on medical microtubule forming quality is investigated. First, the multiphase flow model of the medical microtubule gas-assisted extrusion process is established. Then, the numerical solution of medical microtubule extrusion is presented based on Polyflow finite element software. Further, the medical microtubule size, morphology, velocity, pressure, and first normal stress difference under different mold flow channel parameters are compared and analyzed. Finally, the experimental platform for gas-assisted extrusion is built, and the correctness of the numerical simulation is verified by the extrusion experiment. The simulation and experimental results show that under the 15–5 condition, the inner radius, outer radius, and wall thickness of the microtubule are closer to ideal values, and the forming quality is better than other parameters. As the ratio of the gas-assisted to non-gas-assisted sections increases, the gas effect becomes more intense, and the shrinkage of the microtube increases. In the gas-assisted section, the wall thickness and outer radius of the microtubes increase first and then decrease, and they stay the same near the exit section. This reveals that gas-assisted forming technology can effectively eliminate extrusion swelling.