Know-How
A Processor’s Most Important Job, Part 1: Molecular Weight
Many processors don’t realize that preserving material characteristics is crucial to product success and failure. The focus here is on molecular weight.
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How Sprue Pullers Help Prevent Molding Issues: Part 2
A vital secondary function of sprue pullers is to act as a cold well to trap solidified material left in the machine-nozzle tip.
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Extrusion: How Hopper Crammers Can Help Feeding
A crammer can assist the flow of certain polymers into the extruder. But the design is not universal and very material dependent. Here’s what you need to know.
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Injection Molding: New Mold Trial—Will It Run 24/7?
Use this nine-step process to make sure you’ll be making good parts after a successful trial. But even then, be prepared for some hiccups.
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Materials: Cycle Time—Science vs. Rules of Thumb, Part 6
This installment—on elastomers—completes a series, whose theme is to bring more science to the discipline of molding. The overall message: Ask a lot of questions whenever someone posits this or that ‘rule of thumb’ about processing.
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Tooling: Know the Basics of Sprue-Puller Design
Sprue-puller designs are quite varied, and there are no firm rules to follow. But here are some important cautions and caveats to keep in mind.
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Extrusion: The Challenges of Extruding Highly Filled Polymers
These materials require screw changes and modifications in upstream and downstream equipment and operating procedures.
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Injection Molding: No, Backpressure Does NOT Raise Melt Temperature
It’s a classic confusion between cause and effect. Melt temperature rises when screw speed is increased. Check out this data.
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Materials: Cycle Time: Science vs. Rules of Thumb—Part 5
Let’s examine the behavior of semi-crystalline materials that never reach their glass-transition temperature as they cool.
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Tooling: Dealing with Sprue Bushings On the Production Floor
Causes of and solutions to some problems you probably deal with every day.
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