Know-How

best practices 8 Jun 2020

Part 3 Materials: Annealing Tips for Semicrystalline Polymers

For these polymers, annealing is done to establish a level of crystallinity that cannot be practically obtained within the parameters of a normal molding cycle. Here’s some guidance on setting annealing time and temperature.

best practices 5 Jun 2020

Fundamentals of Proper Press Shutdown

Press shutdown procedures have a significant impact on achieving smooth machine startups and restarts to improve uptime. Here’s a procedure you might want to deploy in your molding operation.

Extrusion Know How 28 May 2020

What You Should Know About Miniature Extrusion Screws

Very small screws have become more common with the growth of additive manufacturing. Designing such screws requires balancing their output requirements with their torque strength.

Hot Runners 27 May 2020

Tooling: How to Properly Size, Gates, Runners and Sprues, Part 3

Get the sprue, runner and gate sizes close to ideal the first time around.

Materials Know How 11 May 2020

Materials: Annealing Tips for Amorphous Polymers, Part 2

In amorphous polymers, annealing is performed to draw down the internal stresses to a level not achievable within the conditions of a normal molding process. But a few parameters are important to achieving the desired results.

Injection Molding 20 Apr 2020

The Cosmetic Process Window: Key to a No-Tweak, Robust Process

Establishing a process with the widest possible cosmetic window can help put your injection molding on cruise control.

best practices 17 Apr 2020

Tooling: How to Properly Size, Gates, Runners and Sprues, Part 2

Get the sprue, runner and gate sizes close to ideal the first time around.

best practices 13 Apr 2020

Compounding: Part 2 of 2 Demystifying Devolatilization

Here are some simple tools to help monitor and optimize your devolatilization process.

PET Processing - Extrusion 10 Apr 2020

Extrusion: Important Polymer Melting Equations for Extrusion Processors

The more you know about what happens in a screw, the more you’ll be able to work with your supplier to optimize design.

Heating & Cooling 2 Apr 2020

Materials Part 1: What Annealing Can Do for Your Process

Relatively rapid cooling rates in processing introduce internal stress. If functional problems in use result, annealing may draw down the stress to levels that may not be achievable during processing.