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More than 1000 companies from all the composites value chain to exhibit online at the JEC Composites Connect.

Verbundwerkstoffe / Werkstoffverbunde

JEC Composites Connect Will Be Digital

Elirro, a company focused on all aspects cohering with injection molding simulation and design verification, becomes part of SimpaTec Sarl.

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Spritzgießsimulation

SimpaTec Sarl Acquires Elirro

The Application Center in Näfels, Switzerland, will enable innovative application, material and processing solutions in the thin-wall packaging industry through closer collaboration across the segment’s entire value chain.

Spritzgießen

Kunststoff-Verpackungsmaschine

Sabic and Kraussmaffei Open Thin-Wall Packaging Application Center

The XPlanar motor system combines the advantages of conventional transport systems with magnetic levitation technology. This opens up completely new possibilities for handling and positioning products in the machining process. The floating effect obviates the need for mechanical guiding components and helps Plasmatreat to simplify the system configuration for plasma treatment.

XPlanar Transports Workpiece during Plasma Surface Treatment Process

Automatisierungskomponenten

Förderanlagen und -geräte

Oberflächentechnik

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Automatisierungstechnik

Fördersysteme

Nozzle in Protective Position

Recyclates usually show altered properties compared to virgin plastics due to initial processing and influences during the product’s life. This often leads to problems during processing. Especially in melt-expanding processes such as injection stretch blow molding, blow molding, film blow molding or thermoforming a fast incoming goods inspection method for recyclates is important. The Institut für Kunststofftechnik (IKT) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, has developed a new test method for this purpose.

Incoming Goods Inspection of Recyclates Ensures Reject Minimization

Messtechnik

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Recyclates on the Test Bench

At the beginning of every quality assurance effort lies the individual measurement value. If this value is measured incorrectly, the collected data is unreliable and has an undesirable effect on all downstream quality management processes. The Kunststoff-Institut Lüdenscheid relies on CAQ AG’s software solutions for gauge and qualification management

Qualification and Gauge Management Software for Injection-Molded Thermoplastic  and Thermoset Parts

CAQ-Systeme in der Rechnergestützten Qualitätssicherung

Quality Right from the Start

With the increasing digitalization of injection molding, new process parameters are coming under the spotlight. Engel, together with the Polymer Competence Center Leoben and Montan University Leoben, Austria, is using machine-learning methods to explore the potential of mold breathing for quality assurance in rubber injection molding. This research project was supported by the partner company SKF Sealing Solutions Austria.

Automatic Process Monitoring with iQ Clamp Control and Machine Learning

Steuerungen (Hardware und Software)

Industrie 4.0 für die Qualitätssicherung

Kautschuk / Elastomere

Mess-, Steuer- und Regelgeräte

Elastomer-Spritzgießen

Machine Learning für die Qualitätssicherung

Rubber Injection Molding with  Quality Recognition

The quality of final products can be increased by using measurement technology for monitoring production processes. Interest in it is increasing especially for compounding. There are various existing methods of non-destructive testing that can also be used inline in the manufacturing process. The different methods are suitable for different applications: an overview of the current capabilities and limitations of the various inline methods.

Inline Testing Methods for Monitoring Processes

Mikrowellenmesstechnik

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Kunststoff

Compoundieren

Transparency in Compounding

Components in solar power stations are exposed to strong solar radiation and other severe environmental influences. These challenges can be met with the aid of self-lubricating, UV-resistant plastic compounds.

Self-Lubricating Polyoxymethylene Bearings for Solar Systems

Solar / PV

Polyoxymethylen

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Technische Kunststoffe

Defying the Sun

In plastics processing, efficient production methods are required, especially for articles with high volumes and exacting quality requirements, and these must be constantly optimized. The container specialist Walther Faltsysteme has been successfully working together with the Austrian moldmaker Haidlmair for many years.

Walther Faltsysteme Combines Three Mold Technologies from the Haidlmair Group

Condition Monitoring / Prozessüberwachung

Paletten und Behälter

Heißkanalsysteme

With Broad Sword and Data Collector

In many technical applications, laser-sintered components still have inadequate surface topology. New methods of cost-effective and geometry-independent surface finishing of the laser-sintered specimens are therefore needed.

Influence of Chemical Post-Treatment on Glass-Filled Polyamide 12 Samples

Polyamide

Selektives Lasersintern von Kunststoff, Metall, Keramik

Additive Fertigung

Geometry-Independent Surface Finishing

Diode lasers are often used for the production of lightweight components by means of thermoplastic tape laying. However, common tape laying systems are noticeably limited in their production capacity. With a flexible multi-head system, Laserline GmbH promises a cost-efficient system that should also pay off in large-scale production.

Multiple Processing Heads in a Row Optimize Processing Speed

Faserverarbeitung

Halbleiterlaser, Diodenlaser

Schnüre, Bänder, Tapes

The Hydra among Diode Lasers

In the realm of virtual product development, the idea of the cycle has been around for many years. But where does the cycle begin? When we take a closer look at this concept, new aspects rightly start to emerge.

When Traditional Approaches Meet their Micromechanical Counterparts

Schaumspritzgießen

Werkstoffprüfung, mechanisch

Analysetools, FEM

Produktentwicklung(sprozess)

Cracking Product Development

In the second part of the series, calculations were carried out on the throughput behaviour, pressure build-up capacity and the melting process on the basis of an exemplary geometry. These results are now to be examined in more detail and subsequently optimized.

Part 3 of the Series Deals with the Tests to Optimize the Screw Geometry

Spritzgießmaschinen, allgemein

Schnecken und Plastifiziersysteme

Spritzgießmaschinen

All about Plasticizing Screws

In the injection molding process, the screw-in blind rivet is one joining element with adequate one-sided accessibility, high strength properties and good economic efficiency. But what factors influence the strength of the bond between the semi-finished product and the molded-on blind rivet?

Study of the Factors Influencing the Strength of the Bond between a Thermoplastic Composite and a Screw-in Blind Rivet

Verbindungstechnik

Chemisches Fügeverfahren

Universal-Prüfmaschinen für Zug, Druck und Biegung

Organobleche (gewebeverstärkte Thermoplast-Halbzeuge)

Molding on a Joining Element

When printing high-performance polymers such as PEEK, stresses occur in the component due to the relatively high printing temperature and the changes in the material structure. In the Smart Printbed project, a system was developed to minimize these stresses and also save electrical energy.

Thermal Management Plays a Crucial Role in 3D Printing of High-Performance Thermoplastics

Verfahren für die additive Fertigung

Thermoplaste

Targeted Heating of  High-Performance Polymers

In a joint project, the Fraunhofer Plastics Technology Center Oberlausitz, the University of Zittau/Görlitz, KraussMaffei and Elbe Flugzeugwerke, have enhanced an extruder-based method for additive manufacturing of large-format plastic parts using a flexible melt pipe.

An Alternative Approach to Large-Format 3D Printing with Plastic

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, Kunststoff

Granulate

Extruder

Large but still Economical

Pipette tips feature a challenging wall thickness/length ratio, an inner geometry that is key for analysis results, and a tip opening just a few tenths of a millimeter wide. They have been in extremely high demand during the coronavirus pandemic, which is why the mold construction and hot runner specialist Männer has developed a mold with an innovative cluster concept.

Pipette Tips: Männer Presents a Mold with Replaceable Clusters

Medizintechnik

Medizinprodukte

Maintenance During (Nearly)  Uninterrupted Production

Specialist Articles

Air inclusions in fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) are among the most common imperfections that can affect both the resulting stiffness and strength. For the calculation of the stiffness of a perfect UD layer, semi-empirical mixing rules can be used which show good agreement with experimental data. Since the content of air inclusions is generally low compared to the constituents of an FRP, the Mori-Tanaka scheme can be exploited in a following step to homogenise the perfect phase and air inclusions. By introducing a geometry function into Mori-Tanaka scheme, influence of air inclusions’ appearance can be investigated.

Calculation of stiffness for FRP with air inclusions with respect to their geometry

Investigations and prediction of the melting processes in single-screw extrusion have been of scientific interest for many decades. In this study, the melting zone of a high-performance extruder with a continuous helically grooved plasticizing zone is experimentally investigated for the first time. For this purpose, an axially divisible extruder was developed to expose the barrier screw together with the plastic melt. An optical examination of the frozen melt validates assumptions of the existing melting model. In addition, the results of the experimental investigation are compared with those of the analytical model. These investigations confirm the essential mathematical model assumptions and are in good agreement with previous investigations on an axially grooved single-screw extruder.

Investigation of the melting zone of high-performance extruders using a helically grooved plasticizing zone

In addition to the previous state of the art in science and technology, in this publication spruce fibres from a thermo-mechanical pulping process were directly compounded with polypropylene and coupling agent using an injection moulding compounder. An increasing wood fibre content of up to 30 wt.% was investigated in direct single-stage processing. The characterisation of the material combinations is carried out by tensile tests, melt-flow-rate measurements, density determination, microscopy and impact tests. An increase in tensile properties, viscosity and density is observed with increasing wood fibre content. The impact strength is lower compared to the unchanged base polymer, but remains constant within the standard deviation with increasing wood fibre content.

Reinforcement of polypropylene with wood fibres by direct compounding

Conventional additive manufacturing processes such as Fused Layer Manufacturing (FLM) technology make it possible to produce any structures from a wide variety of materials without tools in a very short time. In addition, layer-by-layer processes hardly make use of the technical manufacturing degrees of freedom with regard to the filling strategy and existing anisotropy. Therefore, in the present publication an optimality strategy for 2.5D-FLM structures shall be presented which is based on a principal normal stress analysis. The goal is to generate a structure design that is suitable for the requirements and production process by means of simulation-based methods. In addition to the methodical imple-mentation, experiments on generic open hole plates with different filling strategies serve to validate and first confirm the method.

Application of a principle normal stress oriented filling strategy for Fused Layer Manufacturing structures

Currently, a nozzle consisting of a series of round tubes (round nozzle) is used as standard for hot gas welding. A newly developed nozzle (top nozzle), which surrounds the weld joint during heating, enables a reduction of the heating time of the resin by up to 60 % during the hot gas welding process. For PA66-GF35, for example, the heating time can be reduced up to 15 s compared to a round nozzle system. In addition, the melting of the resin is much more uniform and does not have a crater-like structure on the surface. The reduction of the heating time leads to lower process gas consumption and ultimately to a reduction of the total energy consumption and thus lower process costs.

Reduction of the heating time for hot gas welding

Contrary to the plastification in injection molding processes, thermoset molding compounds could be more heated in a twin screw extruder due to its stronger shearing effect which leads to the rise of the melting temperature above the initial curing temperature. Besides the screw speed, the screw configuration has an extensive impact on the shear-induced energy input and on the melt temperature profile along the extruder. The aim of this research is the development of an analytical method to investigate the influence of different processing conditions on the flow-curing behavior. Furthermore, possible implications to the resulting properties of the foamed semi-finished parts are discussed.

Analysis of the flow-curing behavior of chemically foamable phenolic molding compounds in the extrusion process

Effects of post-processing thermal treatments of vibration-welded polypropylene and its silica nanocomposite were systematically studied by using a heating cabinet and in-line infrared radiation. Experimental results demonstrate that thermal treatments, independent on the heating sources, exert obviously positive effect on improving the weld quality of polypropylene materials, i.e. stiffness and strength of the weld. Despite the short cycles used for infrared heating, the results are better and the effort is less.

Response of mechanical and thermal properties of a vibration-welded polypropylene/SiO<sub>2</sub> nanocomposite on different thermal treatments

This research work presents a recycling methodology for carbon fibre composites processed with a novel room temperature infusible and curable thermoplastic matrix ELIUM 150 from Arkema. Herein we demonstrate that by dissolving the composites in acetone at room temperature it is possible to separate the matrix from the fibres and to reuse both the matrix and the fibres in form of scrim (preform). A comparison of the thermomechanical, thermal and mechanical properties of the composites shows only marginal performance changes in bulk properties due to the proposed recycling strategy.

Closed-loop room temperature recycling of Elium CFRPs and its influence on the 2nd generation composite properties

Changes in the specific volume during the processing of thermosetting resin systems result in reduced dimensional accuracy of the components due to residual stresses and, in the case of fibre reinforced plastics (FRP), in surface waviness. A specially developed dilatometer is used to characterise the chemical shrinkage close to the process. The tests show a significant influence of the mixing ratio of resin and curing agent, which leads to a reduced chemical shrinkage. An increased moisture content of the resin component tends to lead to a lower chemical shrinkage.

Investigation of the Shrinkage Behaviour of a Fast Curing Epoxy Resin as a Function of Moisture, Gas Content and the Mixing ratio

A flexible air guiding system in blown film extrusion enables a mass throughput increase of more than 60 %. The development encloses the bubble expansion zone and creates a flow gap between the film bubble and a flexible membrane. In this gap, the flow velocity of the cooling air can be increased, resulting in higher heat extraction. As a side effect, the increase in flow velocity creates a local vacuum in the gap, causing the film bubble to open earlier than in the conventional process. Because of this surface enlargement the heat extraction can be improved again. During the extrusion process, the flow gap can be adjusted to the current bubble geometry independent of the process parameters.

Increased cooling capacity when using a flexible air guiding system due to the Venturi effect in blown film extrusion

In this investigation, a possibility for shortening the cycle time in the manufacture of thick-walled optical components by compression induced solidification (CIS) was studied in a numerical manner and experimentally tested for validity. The test specimens produced with a reduced cycle time were compared with the manufacturing processes commonly used for such components, i.e. injection molding, injection-compression molding and conventional CIS, with regard to dimensional accuracy, internal stresses and microstructural impression. It could be shown that by delaying the heating of the mold, the adapting time and thus the cycle time of the process can be reduced by up to 55 %, while maintaining the same high quality of the components.

Application optimized compression induced solidification

The development of a functioning and efficient recycling economy is strongly dependent on the quality of the recycled plastics. New plant and process technology is promoting this development.

Sortierer

Kunststoff-Recycling

KU-Verarbeitungsmaschinen allgemein

Advances in Plastics Recycling Processes Towards the Creation of a Circular Economy

For a long time, chemical recycling was considered an unfinished addition to established material processes. In the meantime, however, some technologies are making the leap into large-scale industrial use: an overview of the various processes and providers.

Overview of the Various Processes and Suppliers

What Is Happening in Chemical Recycling?

Portal for the plastics industry, featuring the latest technical information, news, jobs, products and knowledge concerning polymers and plastics.

Plastics: News, Jobs, Products for the Plastics Industry