Extrusion Know How
Extruding Very High-Flow Polymers
Screw designs not suited to process lower-viscosity materials will result in poor melt quality and lower outputs.
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Do You Have Screw Wear?
It’s generally caused by metal-to-metal contact, and your first indicator will be poor melt quality.
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EXTRUSION: Is Head Pressure Sapping Your Extruder’s Strength?
A redesign of all of the flow paths between the end of the barrel and die may be in order.
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EXTRUSION: Orientation: The Good and the Bad
Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, molecular orientation can have a positive or negative impact on your part. Here’s how to control it.
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EXTRUSION: Better Mix In Means Better Mix Out
Segregation or de-mixing of polymers and additives can be a big problem in single-screw extrusion. Here’s why it happens, and how to fix it.
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EXTRUSION: How Slow Can You Go?
Larger screws designed for high outputs will generate a variety of problems if run too slowly. Here’s why.
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EXTRUSION: Finding the Sweet Spot in Screw Design
The compression ratio of a screw does not provide enough detail on how it will perform. Screw design is a balancing act that takes many variables into account.
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EXTRUSION: Understanding The Barrier Gap
All barrier screws are not created equal, and the barrier length and gap can be one of the reasons.
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EXTRUSION: Venerable Maddock Mixer Still an Extrusion Workhorse
Variations to this decades-old mixing section are widely used, but processors should carefully analyze these designs and not assume they will perform better.
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EXTRUSION: Managing Regrind
Reusing scrap is a necessary evil. But be aware of the negative impact scrap has on properties and extrusion efficiencies. Start by developing a regrind-usage program.
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