Time to take stock: in what condition and with what agenda is the industry presenting itself after two-and-a-half years of a difficult climate? We have conducted a survey: insights into the dominant themes of the age.

Preview of K 2022: Kunststoffe Questionnaire on the Situation in Injection Molding Machine Construction

Spritzgießen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Steuerungen (Hardware und Software)

Automatisierungstechnik

Doriat, Clemens, Dr.

Messe K-Kunststoffmesse

kunststoffe-international.com

Steuern, Regeln

Software

Digitale Transformation

Wirtschaft

Innovationen und neue Technologie

Nachhaltigkeit

Umweltmanagement

Mess-, Steuer- und Regelgeräte

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Energieeffizienz

Spritzgießmaschinen

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Kunststoff-Rezyklat

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Kreislaufwirtschaft

Harsh Realities

How the direct compounding opens up new potential to reduce CO2 footprint – also for smaller components thanks to a further development from KraussMaffei.

DCIM technology enables injection molding and compounding in a single heating process.

16:9

Efficiency Meets Sustainability: Systematically Reduce Costs and CO2 Emissions

Extruder

Extrusionsanlagen

Compoundieren

Cost-Effective Direct Compounding for Medium-Sized Components

At K 2022, Engel, with its partners Alpla Group, Brink and IPB Printing, is presenting a quantum leap for the packaging industry. Thin-wall containers can for the first time be produced from PET directly by injection molding in only one process step.

Fig. 1. The thin-walled containers are injection molded from rPET.

kunststoffe.de

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Schmelzefilter

Polyethylenterephthalat

Thermoplaste

Industrie 4.0 für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Industrie 4.0

Processing rPET by Thin-Wall  Injection Molding

Under the motto “It‘s all Wittmann”, Wittmann Battenfeld is presenting its machines and systems in the new Wittmann design for the first time.

Automation cell with SmartPlus 90 for manufacturing a spirit level.

Schaumspritzgießen

Spritzprägen

Biokunststoffe

Naturmaterialien

Verstärkungsstoffe

Green DC Current for the Injection Molding Machine

After the focus was on individual manufacturing and model-supported process set-up in recent years, the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University is linking the two aspects of digitalization and circular economy at K 2022.

The QR code on the PCR component provides project information and process data.

Werkzeuginnendrucksensoren

Messtechnik

Sensoren / Messwertaufnehmer

Precise Process Control with Injectix

This year, the world’s leading trade show K has succeeded in presenting practical solutions for greater resource efficiency on a broad front. A first foray through the trade show grounds.

K 2022 gave numerous practical examples showing visitors how recyclates can be reliably processed with digital aids.

State-of-the-Art Injection Molding Solutions for Greater Resource Efficiency.

State-of-the-Art Injection Molding Solutions at K 2022

Solar / PV

Energieerzeugung

Erneuerbare Energie

Temperiertechnik

Mehrkomponenten-Spritzgießen

Condition Monitoring / Prozessüberwachung

Instandhaltung

Handling, Handhabungstechnik

Elastomer-Spritzgießen

Oberflächentechnik

Digitalisierung

Silikonkautschuk

Kautschuk / Elastomere

It Can Be Done!

Direct recycling of cured thermosets as fillers in the injection molding process increases resource efficiency due to material recycling.

Recycling of sprue loss through shredding, blending with virgin material and direct recycling.

Direct Recycling of Cured Thermosets as Fillers in the Injection Molding Process

Duroplast-Spritzgießen

Duroplaste

KFZ-Zulieferer

Dienstleistungen

Sprue Recycling Conserves Resources

Production systems for large molded parts can be flexibly and economically reconfigured or expanded using hot runner adapter plates.

Melt transfer from two on the side injection units of an Engel v-duo 2300 RTM into the middle of the hot runner intermediate plate mounted on the sliding table. 

Economical Solution for the Production of Thermoplastic Large-Structure Components

Normalien und Heißkanaltechnik

Komponenten für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Heißkanalsysteme

Co-Injektion (Barriere-/Sandwich-Spritzgießen)

Flexible Injection Solutions  with Adapter Plates

Arburg presents its expertise on important topics such as sustainability, digitalization, energy efficiency and automation at the Anniversary Days.

The new Allrounder 470 H hybrid machine (here in the “Comfort” version) is setting the stage for a new machine technology that is particularly energy-saving, resource-efficient, production efficient and user friendly.

Verbände, Institutionen, Messen

Unternehmen und Unternehmer

In-House Trade Show with Special Signs

The availability of PET bottle flake outside the beverage sector is expected to decline continuously in the coming years. Tray-to-tray recycling can close this gap and succeeds particularly easily with a new extruder.

MRS extruder screw with multi-rotation section for efficient degassing and decontamination

Polyester

Blasfolienextrusion

Flachfolien- und Plattenextrusion

Extrusion

Standardkunststoffe

Folien

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Unique PET Tray-to-Tray Recycling in a Single Extrusion Step

The Danish company Plastix recycles old fishing nets and ropes. The granules produced are used by JSP International, among others, to manufacture expanded polypropylene (EPP).

11 % of the plastic waste in the sea comes from the maritime industry. For the recycling of old fishing nets and ropes, accurate sorting is very important

Expanded Polypropylene from Maritime Plastic Waste

Schaumstoffe und Vorprodukte

Schaumstoffe

Recycling

Polypropylen-Compound

Polypropylen

Kunststoff

Bauwesen

Baustoffe

From Fishing Net to Particle Foam

Process technologies for manufacturing multilayer and multicomponent products offer great potential for using reprocessed plastic wastes even for plastic parts that are subject to strict requirements for surface quality, product protection or consumer safety. The key: to place the recycled material in the interior while the surface is made of virgin material. Engel has developed a variant of sandwich injection molding that allows high proportions of recycled material to be used even with complex part geometries.

The sandwich technology (skinmelt) hides the recycled material beneath a virgin material surface – for example in the transport boxes

Engel’s skinmelt Sandwich Process Paves the Way for Increased Use of Recycled Material

Werkstoffprüfung

Recycling that Gets under the Skin

Smart assistance systems are paving the way for self-optimizing production. Automatic correction of quality-relevant parameters is already reality for individual phases of the injection molding process. At K 2019, Engel presented the iQ weight control with the example of a recyclate application for the first time.

With the manufacture of thin-walled sample parts, Engel presented the  iQ weight control smart assistance system at K 2019, with a recyclate application for the first time

The iQ weight control Assistance System Ensures Higher Process Stability

Messgeräte für Viskosität

Opening up a Broader Range of Applications for Recyclates

Current requirements for product quality and rising demands for sustainable products are dictating ever stricter requirements regarding the quality of recyclates. Further technological developments aimed at material purity and quality are unavoidable.

Expanded Machine Portfolios from Turnkey Solutions to Integrated Systems

Wiederaufbereitung

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Aufbereitungsmaschinen

Circular Economy Is the Buzzword  of the Hour

Enhancing mixed bottle flakes by turning them into extrudable recycled crystalline polyethylene terephthalate (rCPET) was the goal of a joint development project looking to close the gap in the PET recycling system. By successfully producing a sheet made from recycled material suitable for high-quality applications such as thermoformed food trays, Gneuss, Sukano and Illig have demonstrated that this approach is indeed possible.

Thermally stable rCPET food trays made from multicolor APET bottle flakes

Upcycling of Mixed APET Bottle Flakes into Thermally Stable rCPET Food Trays

Polybutylenterephthalat

Farbstoffe und Pigmente

Additive

Anlagen Lebensmittel

Anlagen für die Additive Fertigung

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, andere

Filteranlagen

Farbstoffe

Flakes

PET: From A to C

Ecologically Sustainable Construction with Plastics

Less CO2 in Construction: Plastic Displacers Replace Concrete

GS Kunststofftechnik produces hollow bodies made of recycled polypropylene in an injection molding process for Unidome Deutschland GmbH, which replace up to 40 percent of concrete in building ceilings.

Construction has a considerable impact on the climate: the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that cement production generates three billion tons of CO2 every year. Ecological building materials and decarbonization of concrete production only provide either partial or long-term relief. One promising alternative is the use of plastic: GS Kunststofftechnik produces hollow bodies made of recycled polypropylene in an injection molding process for Unidome Deutschland GmbH, which replace up to 40 percent of concrete in building ceilings.

Concrete is one of the most important building materials worldwide. However, its production releases a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere. Parts of the cement industry are working to reduce their carbon footprint by decarbonizing cement and concrete. However, there is no quick remedy in sight. The plan of the German Cement Works Association, for example, is set for 2050. Furthermore, even ecological building materials such as wood, bricks, clay or straw cannot replace the necessary quantities of concrete that could massively reduce emissions.

Unidome Deutschland GmbH from Eltville am Rhein, Germany, is currently pursuing an approach that is already feasible today. It has developed a material-efficient lightweight construction method in which hollow bodies, so-called displacers, are used instead of concrete at low load-bearing points of building ceilings and foundations. The plastic parts are particularly useful in multistory buildings with large ceilings, balconies and foundations with thicknesses between 18 and 50 cm. “This makes it possible to replace up to 40 percent of the concrete”, explains Unidome’s CEO Dr. Karsten Pfeffer, EngD.

The hemispheres are manufactured at GS Kunststofftechnik in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, and are assembled on the construction site. The system supplier and injection molding specialist produces various sizes of the Unidome XS type entirely from recycled polypropylene (rPP). The material can be molded very easily and is highly versatile and is therefore frequently used. Other advantages include its good resistance to heat, acids and alkaline solutions as well as its long shelf life, which matches the service life of buildings.

The displacers are manufactured at GS Kunststofftechnik on a Haitian Mars III injection molding machine with a clamping force of 3800 kN. Different molds with single cavities are used for the models with varying heights of 70, 90, 110 and 130 mm. They come out of the injection molding machine as half shells with wall thicknesses of 1.5 mm.

In this form, they can be easily stacked on top of each other and transported efficiently. On the construction site, the workers assemble two half-shells at a time and join them with a simple locking mechanism. Integrated spacers to the load-bearing reinforcement and circumferential pins for safe distance monitoring to the next hollow body ensure uniform assembly. Integrated support tunnels ensure high stability of the displacers.

Since they are hollow on the inside, the displacers weigh far less than concrete elements with the same dimensions. This means less use of cement and correspondingly less greenhouse exposure. But the CO2 reduction does not stop here. Logistics also contributes its share to climate protection. A small lorry with the displacers replaces up to 48 trucks with concrete. Ideally, this means that 60 t less CO2 are released into the atmosphere.

The Displacers Make Construction Lighter, More Stable and Cheaper

The displacers also offer several advantages for the building, explains Unidome CEO Pfeffer. Since the plastic as a building material weighs significantly less than concrete and steel, the buildings also become lighter overall – with far-reaching consequences. Pfeffer gives an example: “Ceilings can therefore be thinner or cover larger areas, which in turn means that some of the supports and beams can be avoided.” According to Unidome, up to 20 % of the previously used reinforcing steel can be omitted.

Larger ceiling areas increase the freedom in designing the floor plans. Furthermore, the structures require simpler foundations due to their lower dead weight. At the same time, the lighter, slender building structures are safer and more stable, for example, in case of an earthquake.

Moreover, the displacers help reduce construction costs. This is attributable to the lower logistics costs. Additionally, plastic displacers are cheaper than the corresponding volume of concrete. Furthermore, the construction time can be shortened with the innovative construction method.

‘With more than twenty years of experience in the development and application of hollow body technologies, we are in a position to offer the most advanced concrete molding available today’, explains Unidome’s CEO Pfeffer. References include school, research and university buildings in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), Spain and Palestine, a new hospital building in Passau, Germany, hotel complexes in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, a sawmill in Switzerland, a technology park in Malaga and a twelve-story office tower in Lahore, Pakistan.

Quality Fluctuations of Recycled Material under Control

Besides the developers, the environment is the big winner – but not only because the use of displacers instead of concrete reduces CO2 emissions. The rPP used for the hollow bodies also requires significantly less energy during production than new granulate. This also reduces waste because every kilogram of recycled plastic used in the displacers is one kilogram less in the environment.

Although different suppliers deliver recyclates with very different qualities, Pascal Wagner-Schön does not associate any quality issues with their use. As Head of CRM at GS Kunststofftechnik, he is the contact person for Unidome. “Our operators have no problem dealing with the process deviations resulting from the quality variations. They’re very skilled at quickly adjusting the parameters for each new batch of granulates.” This is because the experts have extensive know-how in the use of recycled granulate. Among other things, GS Kunststofftechnik manufactures cases for reusable cotton buds made from ocean-bound plastic – recycled plastic waste extracted from the oceans.

‘We’ve found the right partner in GS Kunststofftechnik’, says Unidome CEO Pfeffer with high praise. “Injection molding experience, flexibility and logistics expertise are particularly important to us for the production of the displacers.” After all, every order from Unidome must be delivered as quickly as possible in the right size and quantity. Therefore, the manufacturer in Idar-Oberstein has its own production facilities with experienced specialists as well as its own logistics center, also staffed with a competent and well-coordinated team.

Text: F. Stephan Auch is a freelance trade journalist and owner of auchkomm Unternehmenskommunikation, Nuremberg, Germany.

Ausgabenartikel

The displacers are particularly useful in multistory buildings with large ceilings, balconies and foundations with thicknesses between 18 and 50 cm. With displacers, builders can reduce concrete up to 40 %.

The Unidome displacers are manufactured by injection molding specialist GS Kunststofftechnik. 

Unidome CEO Dr. Karsten Pfeffer, EngD (second from the right) with the lightweight and stackable displacer halves. On the left next to him Key Account Manager Ameen Hafiz.

Stefan Dahlem, Process Engineering, with one half of a Unidome  plastic displacer in production at GS Kunststofftechnik in Idar-Oberstein.

Unidome’s displacers are injection-molded entirely from recycled polypropylene. 

Name - Hauptartikel

 F. Stephan Auch is a freelance trade journalist and owner of auchkomm Unternehmenskommunikation, Nuremberg, Germany.

GS-Kunststofftechnik – Gebrüder Schmidt KG is a system supplier and injection molding specialist with about 190 employees. Its headquarters are in Idar-Oberstein in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The global customers of this contract manufacturer with in-house design department are mainly from the hygiene, sanitary, mechanical engineering, cosmetics and household appliances sectors. The company was founded in 1818 by Johann Karl Schmidt as a metal goods factory. Today it is one of the oldest family-owned industrial companies in Germany. In the 1950s, it began processing plastics. In 1996, the company, renamed to GS Kunststofftechnik, moved to its current location. It provides space for administration, construction, production and its own logistics center on a total area of 15,000 m². Sales in 2021 reached around EUR 20 million.