Extrusion Know How

Understanding Viscosity in Extrusion

Both the power-law coefficient and the consistency index must be considered to calculate viscosity.

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screws

Barrier Screws: Not All Are Created Equal

Let’s take a deep dive into parallel and crossing types and see where each fit in.

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best practices

Why Barrel Temperatures Have a Small Effect on Melt Temperature

Extruders are not like ovens. Tweaking barrel-temperature profiles will not influence melt temperature all that much. Here’s why.

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Extrusion

Simple Scale-Up Calculations for Melting

You can avoid complicated melting equations when designing or evaluating a screw by using simpler methods that can save time and provide good results.

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screws

Unraveling the Complexity of Single-Screw Scale-Up

Variables such as shear rates, melting rate, residence time and conductive heating are all influenced in the scale-up.

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screws

Telltale Signs of Screw Wear

Determining the cause of wear is the first step in eliminating it.

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Extrusion: Head Pressure and Output Stability

Use drag- and pressure-flow equations to analyze fluctuating output.

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best practices

Extrusion: A Simple Way to Evaluate Your Screw Performance, Part 2

A hand-held calculator and some basic equations can help determine whether your screw is up to snuff.

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Extrusion

Extrusion: A Simple Way to Evaluate Extruder Screws

While there’s lots of data that influences screw design, processors usually don’t have access to it. So instead, try calculating drag flow to see if your screw is working properly.

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screws

Extrusion: Barrier Screws: Metering Section or Not?

A barrier screw without a metering section can reduce output and increase melt temperature.

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Plastics Size Reduction
Blending & Dosing