Articles

Thermoforming

Sheet Extrusion, Thermoforming Tips for PLA/aPHA Blends

Biopolymers like PLA and PHA are able to meet sustainability goals while also delivering the performance attributes needed in rigid food packaging. Here’s what testing has shown.    

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editorial

An Uphill Journey

Proper end-of-life outcomes for plastics are possible, if we’re willing to put in the work.

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Injection Molded Enclosures Plug into Potential Electric Vehicle Battery Applications

In partnership with material suppliers, Engel is proving out injection molded thermoplastic-based concepts for electric vehicle battery housings, utilizing production tools and dedicated machines at its large press factory in St. Valentin, Austria.

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How to Select the Right Cooling Stack for Sheet

First, remember there is no universal cooling-roll stack. And be sure to take into account the specific heat of the polymer you are processing.  

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Extrusion

Using a Melt Flow Indexer to Test Your Pressure Transducer

The MFI tester enables collection of meaningful pressure data in transducers in a relatively short time, providing realistic measures of the response time of a pressure transducer. This information is critical in the interpretation of pressure data measured in an extrusion process.  

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Hot Runners

Optimizing Pack & Hold Times for Hot-Runner & Valve-Gated Molds

Using scientific procedures will help you put an end to all that time-consuming trial and error. Part 1 of 2.

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Extrusion

New Screw Boosts Mixing, Enhances Polymer Properties

Device mixes at the ‘molecular level,’ inventor says, to boost mechanicals and in some cases make pre-drying redundant.

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Multiscrew

How to Configure Your Twin-Screw Barrel Layout

In twin-screw compounding, most engineers recognize the benefits of being able to configure screw elements. Here’s what you need to know about sequencing barrel sections.  

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The Connector Conundrum: 3D Printed Mold Tooling’s Role in Innovation

ReelView Fishing faced an electronics obstacle in the development of its new technology for underwater video. Additive manufacturing for moldmaking allowed for the speed necessary to iterate to a solution. How inventors and invention will benefit from new ways of obtaining production-ready tooling.

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resin pricing

Prices Drop for All Five Commodity Resins

While PE price reductions were not as apparent, they too were following the year-end price trajectory of PP, PS, PVC and PET.

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economics

Plastics Processing Index Remains Virtually Unchanged

Future 911爆料网 indicators rose again this month, but other inputs changed only slightly.

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7 Takeaways on 3D Printing As a Pathway to Polymer’s Future

The Cleveland section of SPE hosted “Additive Manufacturing: Printing the Path for the Future” on October 17, 2024. Speakers signaled where AM is and where it is headed with session topics ranging from pellet-based 3D printing to qualification and commercialization of additively manufactured products.

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Blending & Dosing
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