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Kunststoffe international, Alternatives to Gluing and Mechanical Joining
The joining of dissimilar materials is a special challenge for joining technology. Thermal direct joining together with suitable surface treatments enables stable joints between very dissimilar materials combinations, thus ‧offering an alternative to classic procedures for joining hybrid parts. Plastic/metal hybrid parts are being used increasingly in numerous branches, such as the automotive, aerospace, or electronics industries. The joining of dissimilar materials continues to present a specia...

Kunststoffe international, An Impact Way beyond its Small Market Share
...r coating in these batteries. Manufacturers such as Solvay, Brussels, Belgium, and Arkema, Colombes, France, have been constantly expanding their product range in this sector over recent years. Electrode binders enable excellent dispersion of the active materials and conductive additives to an electrode and allow adhesion to the current collector. Newer variants feature enhanced adhesion and mechanical stability and can be worked more easily and quickly, enabling more powerful and longer lasting...

Kunststoffe international, Award-Winning Packaging Solution ‧Increases Productivity
...the machine. For example, the central block is guided in the reinforced machine bed and additionally supported by an adjustable crosshead. Valve Pins for the Two Gating Points Are Actuated as a Group To enable a most convenient one-handed operation when removing the wet wipes from the pack, the hinged lid is opened by a push mechanism. To ensure a reliable opening and closing over the entire life cycle, the thin-walled component with a shot weight of around 7.4 g and a wall thickness of 0.8 mm ...

Kunststoffe international, Central Hub for Digitization in Plastics Processing
... to plastics is almost completely lacking (Fig. 1). Holistic Approach of Consistent ‧Digitization in the PIC 4.0 With its Plastics Innovation Center 4.0 (PIC 4.0), the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV) at RWTH Aachen University aims to enable research in the field of digitized plastics processing by adopting a holistic approach. For this, existing research projects focused on digitization will be seamlessly integrated into the new research ‧infrastructure, and new projects will be initiate...

Kunststoffe international, Completely Joined to the Host Computer System
...responds when asked why the company selected Arburg’s host computer system in 2012. And Placke gives even more reasons: “ALS scored with its short implementation time and readily adaptable integration into the existing IT landscape. This enabled us to switch over quickly from our old PDA system, and the development of interfaces to ERP was trouble-free.” The first step involved networking the Arburg injection molding machines (type: Allrounder) with Böllhoff’s main location in Bielefeld, Germany...

Kunststoffe international, Delivering Efficiency Even in Harsh Environments
...s. Across a variety of under-the-hood applications, PEEK has already become a material of choice for OEMs/Tier1s to increase efficiency. In electric machines for example, PEEK-based electrical insulation can help to improve thermal management, enable more reliable operation and reduce overall system cost. Also, in tribological applications such as seal rings or thrust washers, PEEK has been found to offer longer component life due to its resistance against aggressive media and excellent wear res...

Kunststoffe international, Formed Pultrusion Profiles
...ing operations with simple geometric specifications. It is expected that optimizations of the process control and clamping systems as well as adapted material systems will enable the realization of more complex geometries and the processing of solid profiles.

Kunststoffe international, Present in a Multitude of Trends
...oped two product series that are biocompatible pursuant to the ISO 10993–1 standard with different filling levels, which have high rigidity and strength and enable high-gloss surfaces. The Makrolon M-800 series is principally intended for components subject to high mechanical stress, while the more easy-flowing M-400 series is intended for larger, thinner and geometrically more filigree components subject to mechanical stress. Good Signal Transmission Wearables are increasingly being used to mo...

Kunststoffe international, Protective Coat for Electronics and Body
...adhesives, and gels – that provide a very thin-walled and form-fitting layer have proved to be most suitable for protecting electronics under adverse environmental conditions [7–11]. Requirements for SelectionThree aspects are essential to enable coating materials to be used for Smart Biomedical Devices: interface surface bonding, material analysis, and biocompatibility testing. Hereby, the best possible interface surface bond between electronic components and coating materials is one of the mos...

Kunststoffe international, Quickly and Gently around the Bend
...ts in this field, decided to collaborate on a publicly funded research project aimed at studying the thermal and rheological conditions in preform molds and at optimizing the hot runner. Their goal was to reduce the generation of PET dust and thus enable the customer to take advantage of longer maintenance intervals.4-Cavity Mold Simulates 96 CavitiesIt all started with a technical trick. MHT built a 4-cavity test mold (preform weight: 12.5 g) which simulated the conditions in a 96-cavity mold ...

Kunststoffe international, Strong in Medicine and Sanitary Applications
...ms have to be printed at slower speeds, which ultimately makes these products more expensive to produce, although less material is consumed. High-performance products like metallocene-based and bi-modal polyethylene grades enable the solution. These PE resins combine high-molecular-weight (HMW) and low-molecular-weight (LMW) resins to improve the balance of processability and mechanical properties. Modern flexible packaging materials for hygienic articles offer superior tear resistance and make ...

Kunststoffe international, Sustainable Growth
...still in its infancy, the larger and older styrenic sibling polystyrene turns out to be even more versatile in terms of its potential to enable a circular plastics economy and is also suitable for chemical recycling (Fig. 4). In a sense, polystyrene is a unique plastic made for the circular economy. This is due to the very nature of this material, being successful on the market since 1930. Due to its moderate ceiling temperature (the temperature where polystyrene fully converts back to styrene) ...

Kunststoffe international, Symbiosis of Toolmaking and Serial Production
...and Production Engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University, Germany, has developed a guideline in cooperation with consultants of the WBA Tooling Academy Aachen, Germany, as well as serial producers and toolmaking companies. This guideline aims to enable companies to develop predictive maintenance systems on their own [2]. The Starting Situation In industrial practice, downtimes in the serial production of plastic parts can hardly be predicted because pooled process and tool know-how is not avai...

Kunststoffe international, The One that Shears, Splits, and Folds Material
...esidence time windows [6] that are less subject to inner influences, such as wear to the processing parts, and to other influences, such as dosing fluctuations. With reactive compounds, this enables long operating times without bladeouts. Variable Configuration Further, in part derivative features result from the operating principle and structural design. Thus, each section of the modular constructed barrel and screw shaft forms a separately tempered zone, also in series with other modules, to ...

Kunststoffe international, The Switchover Problem and its Consequences
... change of machine, material or mold. The resultant quality of the process setup is highly dependent on the machine operator’s experience and knowledge. With the help of a filling study, he determines the switchover point experimentally, which enables the reaction times of machine control, injection unit and (if required) sensor technology to be taken into account [3]. Assistance systems from various machine manufacturers can provide additional support for the machine operator during process set...

Kunststoffe international, Turning Old into New
Due to their good feed characteristics and self-cleaning properties, twin-screw extruders enable even contaminated post-consumer polystyrene to be depolymerized continuously and efficiently. This opens up a promising recycling route in terms of industrial implementation via renewed polymer synthesis to produce plastic granules with a quality approaching that of virgin material. Polystyrene is used to produce a wide variety of food packaging and also for thermal insulation in construction. Especi...

Kunststoffe international, What Can You Do at Fall Fairtime, When There Aren’t Any?
...e performed electromechanically and thus completely independent of the machine hydraulics. According to Boy, the short cycle times and high metering quantities make it especially advantageous. The new twin-pump technology enables synchronized control of the functions “mold close” and “injection” as the mold is locking. The machine shown here is producing beautiful designer plates from “Ocean Plastic” (Fig. 2). The Swiss company Tide Ocean SA has cooperation partners that collect used plastics p...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, 100 % Web Inspection
... (e.g. Microsoft Office: Access or Excel). This means that the production plant, e.g. in the central quality control department, can produce additional plant-specific analyses and statistics. Summary Modular designed optical web inspection systems enable production plants to implement at reasonable cost a continuous inspection and production documentation system despite mounting production speeds. Intelligent web sensors reduce the amount of data generated and transmit only the production-rele...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, 3-Dimensional Moulded Circuit Carriers
...sert moulding of film structured with conductive tracks. One such process is the Baymetec method developed by Bayer AG, in which printed circuits are applied to the film surface with the aid of a special primer. The primers contain catalysts, which enable subsequent metallization of the conductive track structures using simple coating processes. Insert Moulding of Metallizable Film The insert moulding of specifically prepared film is a relatively new process in terms of the MID technology. It ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, 42V Power Systems: More Power in Cars of Tomorrow
...f mechanical connections by electronic controllers, sensors and actuators, automotive electric power demand will rise over the next ten years from the present 2000 to 10000W. This will require the use of a higher-voltage system in cars, which will enable cable cross sections and therefore costs and weight to be reduced. The costs of electronic circuits will also diminish with higher voltage. In consequence, electronic control systems will become more competitive as compared with electromechanica...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Attractive New World of Packaging
...dants, which also affect the processing characteristics of PET. Cooperation with converters such as Schmalbach, Alpla, Constar etc. is also very good indeed. Says David Cook: “We carry out a lot of joint tests with our customers to enable us to consistently produce PET containers faster and more efficiently. Topics such as the drying of PET granules, the dwell time of the melt in the plasticising unit, energy savings and barrier properties all play an important role.” Consolidation in the PET M...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Automotive Industry: Innovative CFRP Technology for Volume Production
...an be achieved over steel and even over aluminium when used for structural and semi-structural components in the vehicle body. The condition is that the wall thickness is reduced to as little as 1.3mm. Volume production in car manufacture would also enable a waste-free charge with short cycle times using the hot press moulding process. Compared with other fibre-plastic composite technologies, the processing costs are then much lower. The cost aspect has also been taken into account through the u...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Back to Nature
...taly, where composting plays a miniscule role as a means of recycling. This contrasts with Germany and the Netherlands, for example, which have the national composting infrastructure in place that would enable BM packaging to be recycled. The advantage is that scraps of food do not disrupt “organic recycling” and the costs are considerably lower than those of conventional recycling. The practicality of this is currently being tested in a pilot project in Kassel/Germany, the only one of its kind ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Blow Moulding: More than Hot Air
...ogie unveiled its 6-layer coex heads, which can be used both for new systems and for retrofitting existing machines, but which are much smaller than conventional heads. A further specialty area covered by the company is retrofitting modules that enable operating-point-dependent heart-shaped grooves in die heads to be replaced by spiral mandrel inserts. Flexring sleeve technology, which was exhibited at the trade fair by the Institute for Plastics Processing (IKV), Aachen/Germany, and was develop...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Blown Film Extrusion Today
...le is used, for example, by Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering, Gloucester MA/USA, Davis-Standard Corp., Pawcatuck CT/USA and Hosokawa-Alpine of Augsburg, Germany. A common feature of all these systems is the use of cladding around the barrel, which enables the heated exhaust air to be ducted away from the area of the film bubble and so prevents it from influencing the process. Metering, Mixing and Plasticizing In addition to plasticization, mixing and metering systems are becoming increasingly...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Central Vacuum Unit for Blown Film Extrusion
... floor above the extruders. The central vacuum line and all the conveyor lines travel past the hopper loaders and every vacuum branch can be switched off by means of a ball valve. The hopper loaders have a central housing section of quartz glass to enable the operator to monitor the level of material inside. The filters in these devices allow dust particles of up to 1,200 µm to pass through, which then travel to the central filter and are separated. Avoiding Waiting Time by Parallel Opera...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, China is the Market Driver: Expandable Polystyrene (EPS)
...novation of existing buildings is an application with large growth potential for all EPS insulation manufacturers [3]. Many Different Applications in the Packaging Sector Ultra-modern automatic processing lines are available for EPS. These enable the raw materials to be pre-expanded and then foam moulded efficiently into the required parts. For short production runs, automatic cutters are also used to cut out packaging components from foam blocks. For recycling production scrap and post-consum...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Close Cooperation Ensures Success
...ss development, mould and machine engineering that it also became possible to produce technical components using the thin wall technique. A key contribution from the raw material manufacturer was to develop a PC/ABS with a very low melt viscosity to enable long flow paths to be covered in a short time. The injection moulding process had to be adapted, for example because of the low wall thicknesses and the very short cooling time, while the machine engineers had to solve the difficulty of a low ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Close to the Customers
...kly to the customer, GE Plastics's knowledge base is also to be networked with that of GE Polymerland. According to Charles E. Crew, the company is also considering the possibility of monitoring customers' production lines online. This would enable complaints and difficulties to be avoided in good time or dealt with straight away. GE Plastics is already offering online project documentation as well as e-seminars for specific topics. Links on the homepage take customers to key markets and...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Competing Processes: Is Plastic Laser Welding Economical?
...t consider all aspects. Jürgen Klein Andreas Kraus The automotive supplier industry is particularly characterised by very high innovation and cost pressure. Thus, automotive suppliers are continually looking for innovative technologies that will enable them to offer their customers better quality products at lower prices. In order that these goals may be reached, all production processes need to be continually analysed and optimised. Plastic laser welding is noted for its very readily control...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Comprehensive Product Range: Advancing into New Dimensions
...ing up the possibility of new part dimensions. Bernhard Rost Gibo-Plast of Skjern/Denmark employs modern production methods to manufacture sophisticated parts in different colours and textures. Individual ideas and short design-to-production cycles enable rapid implementation times to be achieved. Different processes with vacuum or compressed-air support as well as the twin-sheet method are used. For thermoforming, 16 UA machines (manufacturer: Adolf Illig Maschinenbau, Heilbronn/Germany) are a...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Compression Moulding of Long-fibre-reinforced Plastics
...s and - measurement of mould temperatures. In special cases: - melt temperature and - the dielectric conductance of the moulding compound can provide information on the progress of the crosslinking reaction. Special sensors for heat flow measurement enable parameters such as the heat capacity and reaction enthalpy of moulding compounds to be determined under engineer-specified boundary conditions. The software permits signals to be recorded and stored and individual or several curves to be visua...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Cooling Injection Moulds
...which liquid or gas is introduced into the small areas of the mould that require cooling. The medium enters through a hollow needle with a diameter of less than 1 mm and flows around an annular ring. The exceptionally small dimensions of the system enable it to be accommodated even with very tight space constraints in a mould. Although, as Fig. 2 shows, such cooling needles can be obtained as standard units on the market, little is known abour their use as far as the literature is concerned. Co...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Cost-effectiveness: In-mould Decoration on Modified Standard Machines
...of decorative material. Technical Implementation of the Specifications The problem of the different extensibilities of the decorative materials was solved by using a hydraulic clamping frame mounted on the core side of the mould. This enables all decorative materials to be processed on the same mould. The core side is the fixed mould half. It features not only the hydraulic clamping frame, but also the hot runner systems and the ejectors (Fig.4). The production cycle starts with a robot attach...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Cost-efficient Production: Extruding Plasticised PVC Film
... calender systems, however, since, as already mentioned above, the quality requirements in terms of surface finish, optics and thickness distribution are very high and cannot be achieved with other technologies. Films for Medical Applications To enable the above advantages to be exploited for this demanding field all the same, an extrusion system was constructed and successfully brought into operation for the first time a few months ago which can be used to produce plasticised PVC film for the...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Crosslinking Instead of Glassy Transition
...ng fibres and a thermoplastic or chemically curing polymer matrix. In chemically curing systems, epoxy resins, unsaturated polyester resins, acrylic resins and phenolic resins etc. are used. These resins are generally liquid at room temperature and enable the fibres to be thoroughly impregnated. During chemical crosslinking, the molecular weight of the resins increases considerably. As a result of this, the glass-rubber transition temperature Tg (usually known simply as the glass transition temp...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Designing Injection Moulded Parts with FEM
...l mechanical calculations. This involves only linear-elastic calculations, and the moment of inertia along the length of the component must remain approximately constant. Some raw material manufacturers offer component macros for CAD programs, which enable standard constructional elements such as snap-fit joints, integral hinges, ribs, cogwheels, screw joints etc. to be calculated on the basis of empirical equations. The results of such calculations usually come with generous safety margins, in ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Detecting Contaminants: Product Safety in the PET Loop
Recycling Product Safety in the PET Loop Detecting Contaminants. It takes a powerful analytical system to guarantee the product safety of recycled PET. Specific detection methods enable all kinds of interferences to be detected at high sensitivity. A specially developed online method provides detailed information of the kind specifically needed in the manufacture of recycled PET for critical applications in the food sector. Andreas Mäurer Frank Welle Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has been...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, E-mail from an Injection Moulding Machine
... the CGI program and, after processing, the results are returned to the user. Debugger Software diagnostic program for locating and eliminating faults in programs. Embedded Internet Integration of web technology in equipment, machines and plants to enable connectivity and services over the Internet. Ethernet Network protocol for local networks with transfer rates of up to 10 to 100 Mbps with Fast Ethernet. FTP File Transfer Protocol based on TCP/IP to transfer text, picture, audio and video fi...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Economical Production of Barrier Film
... integrated into the automatic system and networked, such data can be made accessible to different users, which means that rejects can be quickly identified and prevented. In addition, remote diagnosis must be possible through a modem connection to enable any problems to be quickly eliminated. Conclusion Because the film market is so innovative, a blown film extrusion line must be made as flexible and as modular as possible. Only in this way will it be possible, particularly in the field of ba...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Editorial: Plast Europe with a New Look
...perfect layout as a coloured PDF document. Non-subscribers can also avail of the download service simply by ordering individual documents online. These changes were introduced to boost the user efficiency of our specialist publication: we wished to enable our international readers to partake of the benefits that our German readers have already been enjoying for a year. Our main endeavour was to ensure a full integration of our online service www.kunststoffe.de and to explore the potential of di...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Effects of E-Business on the Automotive Supplier Industry
...nted in catalogues within a fixed price structure. Ordering per Internet is simple in conjunction with back-end-system integration, reducing order-process costs considerably. Collaborative Engineering Various functions for collaborative engineering enable any number of external development partners to be integrated into a joint development process. Development documents from a joint development project are available in a digital project room, comments and further developments are exchanged betw...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Efficient Project Development
...ric shrinkage distribution. Geometry and filling study: The housing is fastened to the handlebar with a screw (Fig. 6). In the initial mounting operation, the thin (1 mm) spacer breaks off. This pre-weakened point serves as a preliminary spacer to enable the housing to be mounted more easily on the handlebar. Considering the gate position, the spacer plays a key role in selection of suitable simulation software. The filling study in Fig. 7 clearly shows the so-called "hesitation effect"...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Efficiently Packaged Mineral Water
...ssed here, namely a comparison of different types of mineral-water packaging, showed that it can also yield helpful information for the preparation of political decisions. Eco-efficiency analyses are relatively quick and inexpensive to perform. They enable the ecological data of an alternative to be linked to its economics data. Complicated facts can be registered in a standardised approach, evaluated and depicted vividly. At the same time, very detailed knowledge does not get lost in the proces...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Enhancing Performance: Fast-Cycle Injection Moulding Machines with Tandem Moulds
...5s for the next injection process before the mould is closed again. With tandem moulds, these dead times can be utilised, thereby increasing the volume output of the machines. The Mode of Action of Tandem Moulds Tandem moulds enable alternating operation. Unlike multi-daylight moulds, the parting surfaces open in a cyclically staggered rhythm: While one side cools down, the other can be demoulded and filled again. At first sight, it may seem that this process has no advantages, but it should b...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Evolution, Not Revolution
...rend on the part of prototype manufacturers for more rapid manufacturing or rapid production processes. Prototypes Produced in Small Runs The trend towards rapid production of prototypes is evident, for example, in laser sintering. Such systems enable service providers to produce as many parts as possible in quick succession. The Vanguard si2 SLS from 3D Systems, Darmstadt/Germany, minimises build times because it has been fitted out with a stronger laser and a high-speed beam-guidance system ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Expansion Injection Moulding: Amazingly Thin
...asticising cylinder and the screw, it is possible to determine the elastic deformations and the elastic volumetric changes as a function of the prevailing pressures. The total volumetric changes enable a fictitious volume to be determined, which, multiplied by the reciprocal of the elasticity modulus of steel and the prevailing pressure, gives the corresponding elastic volumetric change. For example, to establish the influence of the elastic deformation of the components in expansion injection ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Expectations and Performance: The Importance of Numerical Simulation
...stic component" is demanded. Simulation is supposed to provide insights that would not otherwise be obtained at an acceptable cost and lead to a deeper understanding of the complex processes involved. As a universal tool, a computer model should enable new ideas to be tried out at reasonable cost and without risk. It should allow important and unimportant influencing factors to be identified in complex systems. In this way, users hope to uncover weak points and faults. This brief list shows ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Extrusion: Automation – Right Down the Line
...– Right Down the Line Highly automated extrusion lines are nowadays needed for the production of profiles, pipes and cables. Consequently, a number of different control systems must be built into the overall automation arrangement. A new concept enables simple control and operation of all the components of the extrusion line. Werner Eberlein Following several years of development and close coordination with customers, Siemens AG is now offering a complete automation package for pipe and pr...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Fast and Reliable
...ocess for each of the material combinations listed in Table1. During the welding trials, the three parameters, laser power, travel velocity of the laser and joining pressure were systematically varied. The housing geometry had a hole in its base to enable the welded parts to be subjected to both tightness and bursting pressure tests. In addition, microscopic examinations were made of the weld seams to evaluate their morphology in correlation with the set welding parameters and the test results. ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Flex-ring Dies: Improved Wall-thickness Distribution of the Preform during Blow Moulding
... resistance directly at the end of the die are considerably more effective than those that are made in the interior of the die. The flow-channel wall in this region is then assembled from a large number of extremely thin, nested individual walls to enable it to withstand the interior pressure of the melt while at the same time allowing it to be flexibly deformable. The natural flexing line of such a “leaf spring”-like flex-ring sleeve is very short. It thus offers the possible of very sensitive...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Flexible Production of Moulded Parts
... filled. Saturated steam is used to purge the air from the particle voids and transfer its heat energy to the foam beads so that their surfaces can sinter together. The mould and hence the foam are then cooled; this stabilises the moulded parts, and enables them to be removed from the chamber halves when the mould is opened. Our goal was to use the best technology to enable these functions to be performed. We scrutinised all the solutions used to date and totally redesigned them with maximum cus...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Framework Principle: New Production Process for Fibre-reinforced Composite Components
...on, a weight saving of about 45% was achieved. The new process makes it possible to produce components that go beyond the previous applications for LFT or GMT components. An extension of existing LFT or GMT applications can be expected, which will enable increased requirements to be met with simple but strategically placed and reproducible reinforcements of unidirectionally oriented endless fibres. These cost-efficient, integrated load-bearing structures will open up completely new sales market...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Functional Plastics: Materials Research as Technical Investment
...ith increasing concentration of the plastics sector on its core businesses, a completely new field of activity has opened for R&D specialists as service provider, developer and producer of new materials. Companies that take such an approach enable both the resin manufacturing sector and the end-user industries to purchase R&D resources on a variable cost basis in order to concentrate on specific fields of research. Initiative by the End User is Sought New materials open up a fascinating field ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Growth Through Innovations and E-Commerce
...orkspace offers all those with access to the project site the chance to pose questions, put forward solutions, call up GEP data and archive data and documents of relevance to the project. Online seminars constitute a further flexible addition. These enable customers to participate in a real-time presentation, with the opportunity to pose questions. Since May of this year, the innovative online ColorXpress service, which can be accessed via the global GE Plastics website, has made colour-matching...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, HALS Light Stabiliser: Light Stabilisation and More
...al grass are lower maintenance costs and significantly higher usability compared with natural grass. Low Interaction with Fluoroelastomers It is known that in processing metallocene-catalysed PE-LLD grades, fluoroelastomers must be added to enable melt-fracture-free film manufacture. The processing aid insoluble in the polymer is deposited on the metal surface of the die wall and facilitates uniform melt flow; at the same time it acts as an internal lubricant. In other low-density polyethylenes...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Heating: Natural Gas in Plastics Processing
...ent is equipped with large cross-sections for the air cooling so that, in addition to the required heating-up rates, it can also deliver the cooling performance required for the particular process – as with electrical heating elements. To enable the natural gas heating system to be easily installed and be able to retrofit existing machines, the element consists of two parts. The half shells are clamped to the pipe of the plastic processing machine in which the screw turns. As with electrical uni...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, High-efficiency Polymeric Foam: Improving Occupant Safety
...on impact, the impactor (e.g. the free-motion headform in FMVSS201u or the instrumented pendulum in ECE R21-FMVSS201) is moving at constant velocity before impact [3]. FMVSS201u tests at component level showed that high-efficiency EA countermeasures enable optimum energy management to be achieved in terms of injury levels, while minimising weight and space utilisation (Fig.2) [4]. The advantages offered by high-efficiency EA countermeasures make them ideal for fixing critical situations that ari...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, High-Grade Design
...urface heating and counteracts the inadequate heating of the core of the comparatively thick panels. Cycle times of less than 3.5 min and an automatic tool change permit the cost-efficient production of tubs in batch sizes of one to five and thereby enable processors to react flexibly to customer wishes. The high-grade, cast sanitary acryl has a high molecular weight compared with extruded sheet and is thus resistant to hot water. Its enormous resilience, however, means that it requires a very h...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, High-performance Applications: Trends in Packaging Technology
...manding closures Fig. 2. Parts costing for a packaging application: Typical cost distribution for a typical packaging product Fig. 3. The mould height can be varied by changing the length of the thrust bolt Fig. 4. Roller guide machines shoes enable maximum machine movement times for the heaviest moulds Fig. 5. Packing pressure device for generating holding pressure independently of the screw Fig. 6. K-Tec 450 S with packing pressure device that can be retrofitted Fig. 7. Process times a...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, High-temperature Polyamides: Lead-free Soldering
...cale manufacture no longer satisfy requirements and must be replaced. Regulation-compliant Material Solutions For these applications, Ems-Grivory, Domat/Ems, Switzerland has developed thermoplastic materials based on polyphthalamide (PPA) that enable users to manufacture regulation-compliant products. The new PPA, marketed under the trade name Grivory HT XE 3876, is flame-retardant and free from halogens and red phosphorus. The material is already approved for flammability classification UL 94...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, High-temperature Thermoplastic Films: Flexible Printed Circuits
...s and the incorporation of fillers, e.g. to reduce the thermal coefficient of expansion of the polymer film. The maximum film width is 30cm. Figure 3 shows the cast-film unit employed, along with the technical data. The production parameters enable numerous film properties to be adjusted. These range from film thickness to crystallinity of semicrystalline polymers right through to the orientation of the film. A further improvement in the mechanical properties and their isotropy can additionally ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Highlighting the Appeal
...chool level already. For this reason, the IKV is cooperating with the RWTH Aachen University in offering programmes for children in years four to six in order to arouse their enthusiasm for technology. The programmes enable children to approach technology in a playful manner and fascinate them with simple and graphic experiments. Whether they ultimately go on to study mechanical engineering, or even plastics engineering, remains to be seen. But they will have experienced the fascination of techn...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Hybrid Profiles in EPDM and TPV
...y. This method gives the downstream processor greater freedom in design, since the adhesion between the different components takes place during their molten phase in the die. Depending on the combination of components, the technology described will enable processors to expand their product lines. A process technique and production set-up have been developed through the cooperation of DSM Elastomers, Heerlen/Netherlands, and Krupp Elastomertechnik GmbH, Hamburg/Germany, which would seem to be sui...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, In-line Plasma Treatment for 3D Plastics Parts
...t come about when treating plastics are often due to the fact that there are so many types of plasma. Under technical and economic aspects, the aim is to obtain a plasma with good homogeneity and with as high a process gas pressure as possible. This enables the treatment speed to be increased, the process reliability to be enhanced and, at the same time, the complexity of the facility to be reduced. The introduction of Cyrannus (= cylindrical resonator with annular slots) plasma sets out not sim...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, In-line Production Control: Film Inspection – A Question of Location
...ion line for manufacturing optical polycarbonate sheets, the inspection system was located directly after the calendar (Fig. 2). Here, it warns the operator as soon as any problems occur – for example, bubbles, gels or black specks – to enable him to intervene in the extrusion process immediately. Around 30m away, in a separate room, is the saw, which cuts the sheets covered with protective film into lengths of 3m. There, with a certain time delay, an alarm light is connected to warn the stack o...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Infrared Thermography: Recognising the Optimisation Potential in Injection Moulding
...cts of mould design. IR thermography reveals design deficiencies. Willi Steinko Experience shows that it is ultimately the mould that determines the overall costs of injection moulding production. To be sure, it is important that the design must enable the moulded part to be amenable to plastics processing, but the profit or loss arising from manufacturing the products is generated by mould design, the gating system and the mould’s heat-exchange system [1]. The automotive parts shown in the ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Injection Moulding (2): Increasing Productivity and Cost Efficiency
...brid Machine One trend that was already clear at the last K and which was similarly in evi-dence this time round is machine concepts that can be classified under the heading of "hybrid". A number of manufacturers offer modular machines which enable customers to select the drive type for almost each individual machine axle. Hence, Arburg GmbH + Co KG has extended its Alldrive series (Fig.1), and Krauss-Maffei Kunststofftechnik GmbH presented its new CX series, which will successively repl...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Injection Moulding Operation: Tailor-made Materials Supply
...ing from the silos or the octagonal container bins or both. Each dosing adaptor has two inlet ports with non-return valves that are optionally actuated with compressed air bottles (Fig.5). The conveying devices are made of transparent polyamide to enable the type and quantity of material in the conveying containers to be identified. All of the conveying devices are fitted with a screen. The dust content is fed into the central filter in all cases. The coupling station has nine incoming material ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Innovation through New Processes
... and can be operated to an accuracy of 0.02 mm. The nozzle is electrically heated and cooled extremely rapidly by the introduction of liquid CO2 (Toolvac process). In this way, the gate is closed after the injection and holding pressure phase to enable the finished component to be demoulded and a new shot to be metered. This process reduces the runner weight to about 15 to 20 mg. Fig. 3 shows the prototype on which the operating behaviour of the machine is being studied. Foaming Thermoplastics ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Innovations Today and Tomorrow: Polypropylene for Flexible Packaging
Packaging Polypropylene for Flexible Packaging Innovations Today and Tomorrow. The continuous improvement of flexible plastic packaging – driven primarily by the wishes of the consumer – is being helped along by the constant further development of polypropylene. With both flexible and rigid films – and especially with transparent cast film – enormous progress has been made in the last ten years. An important new impetus has also been provided by the development of new easy-to-open, easy-to-han...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Innovative Direct Processing of Natural Fibres
...r & Pfleiderer, Stuttgart/Germany). The resultant extruded strip was compressed at staggered intervals on a heating/cooling press to yield specimen sheets. The process was broken down into individual stages to help identify causal relationships and enable appropriate improvements to be made. The second development phase was to combine matrix functionalisation and natural-fibre incorporation into a single-step process and to scale-up the overall process to a larger compounding unit (ZSK40, L/D=56...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Integrated CAE Solution: Proper Simulation of Fibre Reinforcement
Construction Proper Simulation of Fibre Reinforcement Integrated CAE Solution. The methodology and corresponding software presented here enables local anisotropy to be taken into account during the design of parts injection moulded from short-fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. Comparisons with experiments on parts confirm very good agreement between simulated deformation and actual deformation for the pump housing studied. Higher demands on greater strength and rigidity nowadays mean that therm...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Interview: Quo Vadis Polycarbonate Glazing?
...light from heating up the vehicle cabin too much. ? How are you able to compete with glass, which is much less expensive? Krause: The magic words here are “integration” and “styling”. Injection moulding and injection compression moulding enable a great many functions to be integrated into the glazing, e.g. attachment elements such as screw guide and snap-in hooks, and tracks for adjacent parts and seals. Moreover, different materials, such as hard/soft combinations, can be attached directly. The...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Interview: “Ensuring Sustainable Development”
... which will also permit us to enjoy profitable growth. A key component of this realignment has been to devise and implement business models that are aligned with changed customer and market requirements. These new structures will enable us to reliably supply and support our global customers with products of the quality they have come to expect, and to grow profitably at a faster rate than the market. Kunststoffe: Polyurethanes in particular have always required a great deal of support because th...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Large-sized Vehicle Parts
... system gives us more flexibility than with quick-change couplings, since we can also use it to clamp smaller moulds”, explains Ralph Sundermeier. Right from the very start, the machine was fitted with the appropriate facilities to enable it to be deployed on a flexible basis with large parts and large moulds. These include a high-flexibility clamping system, the appropriate number of temperature-control circuits, and hydraulic versions of slides and core pullers, etc.” Details: www.battenfeld....

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Laser Welding A Mature Joining Technique
...ing, a laser beam spread out in the shape of a line is moved across the joint parts. The joint partners are heated up by the laser beam wherever a weld seam is to be made. Areas which are not to be welded are shielded by the mask. Mask welding can enable very high "resolution" between welded and non-welded areas. Nevertheless, two-dimensional weld structures are still possible in the same part. With this variant, it has proved possible to produce a weld width of less than 100 µm. T...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Laser Welding: Laser-adapted Construction for Plastic Welding
...ique is that the parts to be welded are 'laser-friendly'. This means, for example, that the plastics should have good optical scattering and absorption properties, that the gap specifications are appropriate, and that the relevant geometries enable optimum application of the contact pressure. The use of lasers has become firmly established in a wide variety of plastic fabrication operations, for example, for marking, cutting and structuring. Laser welding is the most recent addition to...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Let’s Ask the Experts!
...nd modified GAIM units. With pressure-controlled units, the attainable volume flow depends on the pressure losses, i.e. on the flow cross-sections in the feed pipe, valves, injector orifice and the meltflow resistance. Volume flow-controlled units enable – up to maximum unit pressure – a defined volume flow to be conveyed independently of the pressure loss. In both cases, however, the flow channels should be large enough to allow high volume flows at low pressures. Equipment that injects a defin...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Low-volatility or Solid?
...tion of foam machinery capable of using carbon dioxide as an auxiliary blowing agent. Carbon dioxide must be added in liquid form, i. e. at critical temperature and pressure. Lowering the pressure of the carbon dioxide-containing mix sufficiently to enable foam production requires fine baffles, holes or slits. Solids tend to clog these openings. Melamine is particularly difficult to process, as large quantities are needed in the foam formulation and a relatively coarse particle is required for o...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Machine Maintenance 2003: State of the Art and Future Trends
...g the maintenance of plastics processing machines based on the practical experience of the converters. Compared with the evaluation produced in 2000, there is an obvious improvement in the available personnel and technical equipment to enable the maintenance departments to carry out their maintenance activities [2]. Of the plastics processing companies questioned, only 10% use modern processes for technical diagnosis such as automatic machine monitoring systems with sensor control of wear parts ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Machines and Robot Handling Systems from a Single Source
...of the machine so that several rows of injection moulded parts can be placed alongside each other. In this way, the container area is effectively utilised. The palleting system can be extended if required to process stacked containers or trays. This enables the complete plant to operate autonomously for several hours. Vertically Operating Removal Robots The MultiliftH is supplemented by the Vseries. These vertically entering portal robot systems operate with three servoelectric axes and so ens...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Market and Concept: Self-colouring of ABS
Market and Concept: Self-colouring of ABS To be in a position to supply ABS granules of consistent quality all over the world at a favourable price, BASF has introduced a concept that will enable its customers to colour the ABS themselves. BASF supplies the plastics converter with natural ABS material while contracted masterbatch manufacturers supply the desired colour concentrate. Fred Baumgartner The family of styrene copolymers has been one of those plastics enjoying above-average growt...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Material Testing: Flexibility in Polymer Research
...uring system are abstracted (Table 1). Flexible Compounders Flexibility was given the highest priority in the development of the new parallel twin screw compounder for the PolyLab OS and the Rheomex PTW16 OS. The drives of the RheoDrive type enable a linkage to controlling software and the high-resolution torque measurement typical for torque rheometers. Analogous to the trend of production extruders running at higher and higher speeds, screw speeds of maximum 1100 min-1 can be achieved now...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Medical Technology: Quality Begins with Material Handling
...me authorisation. This is taken into account at this point with multiple password stages and authorisation levels. Of course, these passwords must meet the company's respective security regulations and are regularly changed by the customer. To enable all the settings to be traced and documented, they are stored in a log file. This file indicates what setting is made from which terminal at what time. It must be possible to operate the different systems simultaneously and full multiuser functi...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Micronising Polyether Imide
...duced into the fibres by means of a suspension process. On account of the properties of the polymer, it is difficult to obtain PEI particles for this application through pure grinding processes if, indeed, they can be obtained in this way at all. To enable polyether imide to be made available in micronised form, an alternative method is thus being sought which will provide selectively micronised material in spherical form. Principle behind the PGSS Process The PGSS process (Particles from Gas ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Mixing and processing: PVC Dry Blends for Pharmaceutical Film
...metering and mixing engineering for the existing calendering line. This company has comprehensive know-how in the design and production of heating and cooling mixers for PVC processing. The high-speed mixers – with 4 to 5 min pure mixing time – enable cycle times of less than 8min and produce a dry, free-flowing dry blend of high quality. With all the system components, the amount of cleaning required is low, even with a critical change of recipe e.g. from opaque coloured to transparent material...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Modified Polyphenylene Ether (PPE)
..., thermoformed twin-walled parts need to withstand exposure to outdoor elements. These temperature extremes do not present a true challenge to the material on account of its properties. In future, the material’s added strength and performance will enable the customer concerned to double the height of the system to 3.60m. (PP+PPE) blends can be a good choice for food transport applications. Material properties such as low-temperature toughness and high heat resistance, durability, cleanliness, an...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, More elegance . . .
...r-generated appearance of the finisher for the first time in a real correctly designed plastics part - are suitable for installation and packaging trials - permit initial tests of the functional capability of accessory parts to be carried out and - enable early analysis of acoustic behaviour to be undertaken in test drives. . . . via Pre-production Samples from a Trial Mould . . . The knowledge acquired from the above-mentioned activities and changes to the surrounding parts made by the automo...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Motor Vehicle Interiors
...n a much smaller number of trials. Through simulation, identification of weak points and variation of geometric and material parameters on the virtual model, it is possible to gain additional knowledge that enables a new design variant to be developed specifically. The real process, which occurs in the space of milliseconds, can – in purely visual terms – only permit limited conclusions to be drawn about the physical processes involved, but simulation allows it to be pursued and analysed much mo...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Multi-component Injection Moulding: New Properties through Rigid/Flexible Combinations
... components for outdoor mobile phones. Some of the methods and techniques described above are already being used. From the original mould design to the final production, the company has consistently had to come up with new ideas and methods that enable it to comply with the customers’ changing needs. New Physiognomy through Lateral Division of the Shell Even the design represented a new and difficult challenge for the mould builders. A mobile phone does not have – as phones used to have – a le...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, New Possibilities for the Injection Moulding of Thin-wall Parts
...on moulding, the machine engineering must be designed to suit the application. Such machines are designed for extreme performance and feature a high-speed hydraulic system with constant pressure. This is achieved with a hydraulic accumulator that enables very high capacities to be made immediately available. It can also perform parallel movements and deliver the high dynamic thrust that is necessary for the critical injection phase. It is the injection phase that dominates the moulding process i...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, News
...d 20 % Jilin University, will produce polyetheretherketones (PEEK). The High Performance Polymers business unit manufactures high-performance polymers based on polyamide 12 and various other specialty polymers. Products from the PEEK family will enable it to expand its range of products in the attractive high-performance plastics segment. Degussa is particularly targeting end markets in the automotive, electronics and aerospace industries. Synventive New Owner Advent International, Boston/USA...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, One-stop Shopping
...Backward integration with HALS intermediate products to triacetone amine (TAA) at its site in Ravenna/Italy, makes Great Lakes entirely independent of supplier companies for its Lowilite UV stabilizers. Production of these intermediate products will enable the capacity of HALS stabilizers in Waldkraiburg/Germany to be doubled. The total investment for the HALS project is US$ 20 million. The facility for producing the HALS intermediates will go on stream in the third quarter of 2001 and reach ful...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Only the Application Determines the Prototype
...w. What Are the Demands on Prototypes? The demands on prototypes vary with the stage of product generation. Distinctions are drawn between - draught model, - geometrical prototype, - functional prototype, and - technical prototype. A draught model enables the proportions to be visualised and presenting the basic shape. It not so much fulfils a demand on the end product as gives an appearance to the shape. Such models are used in the early stages of product draughting, for presentations to cust...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Perspectives at the Start of a New Millennium
...th appropriate electrical-mechanical and electronic devices that can only be managed and accomplished technically through the use of plastics. Several of the respondents to Delphi '98 express the view that modern communications capabilities will enable up to 40 % of employees to work from home. Micro-Technology Progress already made in the field of electrical and electronic engineering and especially in the field of medical technology is conducing essentially to further miniaturisation. Sp...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, PET Packaging: Growth Market with a Future
.... At the same time, they need to come up with innovative developments that offer economic benefits. From this situation and with this inter-relationship between economic efficiency, innovation and competitive pressure, new trends are developing that enable us to derive visions and inferences regarding future developments on the PET market. PET Packaging – a Growth Market with Orientation to the Future With its outstanding properties, PET has become one of the most important packaging materials...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Pipe Extrusion: The Calculation of Spiral Mandrel Dies
Pipe Extrusion: The Calculation of Spiral Mandrel Dies The finite elements method was used in the past almost exclusively for calculating simple extrusion dies or die segments. More recent developments now enable it to be used for more complex dies, too. André Wieczorek, Günter R. Langecker In the last few years, the simulation of extrusion dies has acquired considerable importance as part of the trend towards faster and cheaper die development. In particular, spiral mandrel dies make high ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Plastic as an Optical Medium: Plastic Optics with a High Functional Integration
...ection moulded parts so as to ensure that trouble-free production of high-quality parts is possible. It is thus necessary to have a sufficient edge thickness in relation to the centre thickness so as to permit an adequate gate to be achieved and to enable the filling phase and holding pressure to be tailored to the part geometry. In addition, an outer edge that is not required for optical purposes is useful in terms of the accuracy of the optics, the handling of the parts and the separation of t...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Plastic Spare-Wheel Well
...tachable mounting receiver for the wheel to suit different customers' tastes. It may be inferred from the crash specifications that the spare-wheel well should deform as uniformly and deliberately as possible. This would reduce stress peaks and enable greater overall deformation. FEM analysis was used in the optimization phase (Fig. 6). The specifications were met through a combination of optimized part geometry, select deformation swaves (see Fig. 4), varied local wall thickness and adapted...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Plastic, the All-purpose Material: Function in Form
...esponsibility of the cyclist to find the correct helmet. For example, a cyclist’s helmet (Fig.5) newly developed by Reevu International of the UK permits good rear visibility without turning the head. This is enabled by a periscope-like mirror system accommodated in a protective protuberance on the helmet. This protuberance, which runs over the highest point of the helmet, is made of Zytel Super Tough polyamide from DuPont for high toughness and impact strength, with low weight. During its devel...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Plastics Gain Ground in Car Body Production
...h process reliability and very good flowability. Thermal expansion is reduced by some 20% over comparable (PPO+PA)-blends and is to be further optimised to satisfy the requirements of gapless technology. Flowability is sufficiently good to enable complex design shapes to be achieved. It also permits the use of simplified injection moulds with few gating points. The new plastic also exhibits very ductile fracture behaviour, even at low temperatures, which is important for passive protection of pe...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, PMMA - A Substrate for DVD
...o disc halves joined together, it has space for up to four layers of information (Fig. 1) compared with the one layer available on a modern standard CD. Properties Fulfil Red Book Specifications The Red Book specifications for substrate properties enable the producers of CDs and DVDs to choose the raw materials for every application from economic and technical aspects. The physical and, particularly, the optical properties of PMMA meet the Red Book standards. The aliphatic polymer structure of...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polymer Electronics: From Polymer Transistor to Printed Electronics
Special: Electronics From Polymer Transistor to Printed Electronics Polymer Electronics. Printed electronics based on new kinds of organic conducting and semi-conducting plastics will in future enable electronics to be put on to virtually any product. It will be done not through the substitution of today's widely used standard electronics based on silicon semi-conductors, but through the generation of electronic intelligence on products that at the moment have no electronics whatsoever. ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polypropylene/Magnetite Compounds
...elco B.V., Rotterdam/Netherlands) are listed in Table 1. These magnetite powders were incorporated in a standard material for injection moulding, namely a polypropylene copolymer, Moplen EPF 31 H (manufacturer: Basell, Hoofddorp/Netherlands). To enable high filling levels of 80wt.-% and above to be processed perfectly, a compound with additives was also examined (Table2). The compounds were produced on a twin-screw extruder (grade: ZE25-CL, manufacturer: Berstorff GmbH, Hanover/ Germany). The pr...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Polyurethanes (PU)
...ion panels have since been given the go-ahead by the building authorities for use in perimeter insulation. In future, a new European standard which makes a finer differentiation between the currently rather broad classes of insulating materials will enable end-users to recognise more easily the differences in insulating performance between competitive insulation materials. This, too, will further increase the popularity of polyurethanes for insulation systems. Another vastly important topic for ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Process Combination: High-quality Surface from Injection Moulding and Reaction Process Machinery
...ial interface. This ensures that one support is always flooded during the casting process. The "RimStar Minidos" small-volume metering unit has been specially developed for low delivery rates. The chosen high-pressure pumps enable metering to be carried out at a rate of just 3g/s per metering orifice. Because both the dimensions and the container are small, the unit takes up very little space beside the injection moulding machine. The control system measures and logs all necessary proce...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Processing of Thermosetting Resins: Pioneering Spirit Needed for Survival of the Species
...ession processes as well as to monitor the reproducibility of all processing techniques. Materials for New Applications Alternatively, or additionally, ultrasonic sensors can also be used for measuring cavity pressure. The ultrasonic signals enable the crosslinking process in the mould to be analysed because the transmission time for the ultrasonic waves through the moulded part varies as a function of the degree of crosslinking. This signal may be used, for example, to demould parts at variou...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Profitability Comparison: Cycle Time is Money
... costs of 0.208EUR for ABS and 0.212EUR for PP. This agrees with the theoretical result that the point lies right underneath the marginal curve for the same wall thickness. Determination of Unit Cost Advantage Although inequation (3) and Fig.1 enable us to obtain a clear picture of the relationship between the dependencies, they provide only a qualitative prediction of unit costs. A quantitative unit cost comparison can be derived from equation (8): ((Formula_8)) This equation is also illust...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Profitable Innovations in a Weak Automobile Economy
...s been determined that the share of fuel cell vehicles will only become important in world automobile production after 2020. Therefore there are indications that politics - like in California - should define forward looking basic conditions and thus enable faster market penetration. For the chemical industry entry into the hydrogen economy is a big opportunity and challenge. Invest in Innovation Investments in innovation by the chemical industry and by plastics processors are rewarded in the t...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Quality Assurance for Class A
...of measuring sensors. The position of the individual sensors is shown in Fig. 6. The mould has two pressure sensors pZ and pE in the cavity, which permit the SMC pressure to be logged throughout the pressing operation. The pressure curves over time enable conclusions to be drawn about the flow behaviour of the SMC. Another pressure sensor pV logs the vacuum curve because vacuum technology is used with Class-A components. With the aid of four inductive stroke transducers S1 to S4, mounted in the ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Quality Assurance: Laser Transmission Welding on the Test Rig
...e energy input into the welding zone and thus to a fluctuation in the evaluation criteria. While joining-travel monitoring primarily detects sources of errors affecting all parts, a number of optical process-diagnostics modules are available that enable localised process interruptions to be detected. Two examples will be presented below, namely pyrometry and combustion detection. Pyrometry is the contactless detection of the temperature of a body from its thermal emission spectrum. Temperature...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Quality Management: The Use of CAQ in Medical Technology
...ulds with several cavities in its own mould design department. A total of 44 injection moulding machines work in three shifts, with complete assemblies produced in the adjacent assembly department. Clean-room production and assembly enable it to comply with the highest customer specifications on product quality. www.spang-brands.de

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Quality Surveillance: Measuring Layer Thickness in Fuel Tanks
.... The new method can reliably determine EVOH thicknesses up to 40µm in a wall with an overall thickness of 8mm. Successful measurements of thicker walls require compromises to be made on resolution. Further development of the FLM method will soon enable the thickness of the adhesive layer to be determined as well. The Authors Dr. Mahmud Al-Haj Mustafa, born in 1970, has been head of process development at Kautex Textron GmbH & Co. KG, Bonn, since 2000. Dipl.-Phys. Jürgen Steck, born in 1962, ha...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Reaction of Building Materials to Fire
...ion system for reaction to fire that divides building materials into classes A1, A2, B, C, D, E and F (see Table 1). The test methods are listed in Table 2. The corresponding standards will probably be published in the course of this year. This will enable the transition period for implementing the European systems into national building regulations to start in the year 2001. The duration of this transition period is still being discussed (currently 5 to 10 years are being proposed). Establishe...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Recording of Process Data in the Mould: Knowing what's Going on Inside the Mould?
...ycle times and when they happened, - dismantling hours, operating hours and downtimes, - the maximum temperature and its duration at two individually selectable measuring points. The tables can be converted as desired into diagrams or charts to enable the operator to quickly recognise any inconsistencies. This function makes it very easy to keep an eye on a mould's operation over a long period of time. The uninterrupted process documentation also provides the basis for long-term process op...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Reducing Cooling Time with Water-assisted Injection Moulding
..., shorter cooling times, lower residual wall thicknesses and higher component diameters can be achieved. Injector and Machine Technology The basic requirement for the WIT is a high water volume flow and the formation of a displacing flow front. To enable a water flow front of this kind to form, the jet of water must be fed in the form of a "gush" via an injector into the plastic melt. Since conventional gas injectors cannot be used for this reason, various water injectors were develope...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Reliable Measurement of Particle Content
...d can be removed. In test position 3, the cassette and screen are positioned and fixed by a pressurising device so that the entire melt is made to flow through the screen. . . . Allows Screen Changing at Running Extruder The melt bypass valve enables the test screen to be changed while the extruder is still running. Thus the amount of time needed for switching off, changing the screen and starting up the unit again is no longer necessary. Apart from this, the risk that specks, gels or cracked ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Reorganization with an ERP system
...carrying out these comprehensive measures it has now managed to gain acceptance as the second largest global supplier of shrink hoses to the automotive industry. The merger of the former DSG Schrumpfschlauch GmbH with the Canadian company Canusa-EMI enabled the newly formed company to press ahead with globalization quickly and exploit synergies. "This merger gave us an important impetus for rationalization", explained Günther Schminke, head of Central Services. "All areas of the comp...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Shopping the Modern Way
Shopping the Modern Way Modern Innovative Injection Moulding and Mould Technology Enable New Supermarket Logistics Reinhard Bauer, Schwertberg, Austria The metal shopping cart will soon be seen only in museums. It will have been replaced by one made completely of technical plastics: ergonomic, light, stable and in particular well suited to commodity management in 21st century department stores. It will be made using injection moulding in combination with the gasmelt technique. Since such l...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Specialty Oils for Extruder Gears: The Chemistry Has to Be Right
...ion reveals a substantial reduction in power loss in the case of synthetic specialty oils (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3). Whereas with mineral oils the power loss is roughly 2%, the value for polyalfaolefins and ester oils is only 1.6% to 1.7%. Polyglycol oils enable the least power loss, at 1.45%. This seemingly low improvement leads to a measurable decrease in power consumption. For example, an extruder drive lubricated with polyglycol oil has a power loss of around 13500kWh/a at a rating of 150kW and an...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Sports Equipment: Plastics at all Events
...trates, while long-distance runners like softer surfaces to spare their joints. Thanks to an ingenious multi-layer structure, both can be combined in one. The upper elastic layer gives the sprinter the firm surface he needs to enable him to achieve his high speed. At the same time, a lower layer, which contains a precisely defined quantity of gas cushions, ensures sufficient vertical elasticity to dissipate the forces and minimise the impact on the joints. The top surface also has to be spike-re...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Stations in the Life of an Injection Moulding Firm
...coustic properties, - increasing safety through less severe splintering, greater fire resistance, - cost reduction and - facilitation of recycling, or ease of disposal. Co-operation Promotes System Capability Long-standing joint venture agreements enable IBS Brocke to manufacture also in the USA, Mexico, Great Britain and the Republic of China. Application-specific co-operation agreements were also entered into, in order to meet the customers' requirements for systems capability. Due to pa...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Stepping into the Breach
...d. Another goal is to improve service. With this in mind, Eastman has invested US$ 400 million in an e-commerce project called www.shipchem.com, which last year started up a logistics service for the chemicals industry. A global ERP system will soon enable business units at all levels to communicate electronically with each other. Specialities: Both New and Established According to David Speicher, Business Manager of Eastman Specialty Plastics for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, the...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Strategies for Cooling Moulds
...te pre-stress in the clip. The simulation may help mould-makers impart the desired degree of pre-stress to parts during manufacture. Figure 14 compares a design geometry with the injection-moulded part. These powerful programs enable designers to work out the optimum cooling arrangement in good time by iterative means. That the situation is usually different in real-life is shown by Dr. Gorzelitz, managing director of M-Tec, Herzogenrath/Germany, which has 23 employees and specialises in the dev...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Structural Change: Styrene Copolymers (ABS, ASA, SAN and their Relatives)
...o be painted – compared with one made of ABS – which does. The cost involved in applying a surface coating is far higher than the extra price of the ASA compared with ABS. Apart from reducing costs as such, specialties also enable a higher price to be attained for the end-products, and can be justified, for example, by the more expensive look of the product, as is the case with MABS. ABS/PA The special advantage with ABS/PA blends is their ability to accurately reproduce even the finest mould...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Styrene Copolymers (ABS, ASA, SAN)
...y in the case of ABS – the sales volumes could almost be described as “commodity-like”, styrene copolymers should be regarded as engineering plastics because their wide range of ‘adjustable’ properties and variety of processing methods enable the manufacture of high-grade components that have proved themselves time and again in particularly demanding technical applications. Market Situation Contrary to previous growth forecasts [1 to 2], the year 2001 brought an unexpected decrease in the mark...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Styrene Polymers
...pylene, polyamide, PBT and their blends. Because of their high toughness, ABS and ASA and their blends with polycarbonate (PC) are particularly interesting for the automotive sector (Fig. 2). The many different structures of styrene polymers, which enable them to offer virtually every conceivable combination of properties, make them one of the most interesting areas of polymer development. The excellent market position of styrene polymers has been achieved through complete backward integration a...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Synergy: mpm also Shows its Strengths in Extrusion Technology
...t of up to 1500kg/h. Expansion of Expertise in Film Lines Following the establishment of KMB Seide Technology GmbH as a fully owned Berstorff subsidiary, synergies are opening up both for Berstorff and for KMB Seide which will enable the two companies not only to intensify their activities in the traditional market segments, but also to jointly tap new areas. With the new set-up, they can now handle customers that want technical film and high-grade thermoforming sheet as well as standard ther...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Tailor-made Engineering in Increasing Perfection
...dles is a real „coup“ that truly deserves the description „plastic is fantastic“. There are now also twin and quadruple nozzles, making for cavity distances down to 16mm. In order to enable the user to make the right choice from the very beginning, a „system guide“ is available, which also compares costs of differently moulded parts. After entering data on the article, material and cooling into the system, it comes up with a proposal which even covers the shear profile along the runner. Husky In...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, The Eye Listens Too
... it is important to make use of the individual components of da*, db* and dL*: da* provides information on greener/redder, db* assesses blue/yellow and dL* indicates whether lighter/darker. Philips has specified limit values, known as tolerances, to enable a good/bad statement to be made. These are the maximum permitted deviations. They can be saved in the color-guide gloss together with the standard, enabling the unit to perform the good/bad evaluation on an automatic basis. It is not therefore...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, The Right Strategy Mix: Maintenance in Plastics Processing
The Right Strategy Mix: Maintenance in Plastics Processing Maintenance is an indispensable prerequisite for safeguarding product quality, machine availability and thus the expertise of a company to enable it to prevail in the marketplace. The goal is to maximise plant usage with minimum effort and to obtain a high return. Erwin Schwab, Ralf Marzineak Effective maintenance management reduces costs when the goal is to achieve higher machine availability with minimum of effort. The reason is ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, The Trend towards Electrical Systems
...e door wide to teleservice and Internet technologies. K'2001 will demonstrate the unbroken innovative force of the European plastics machine industry also in the field of electrically driven injection moulding machines. Fig. 1. Electric drives enable more constant injection moulding processes Fig. 2. Mechatronic model of a belt- driven injection unit Fig. 3. The ideal clamping system should accelerate fast in the start-up phase, produce high velocities, brake quickly and then generate th...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Thermosets
...]. Good surface quality of pultrudates is obtained by using an unsaturated polyester resin modified with a low-profile additive. This resin can be coloured in deep shades and has higher gloss than conventional systems. It also enables water absorption to be significantly reduced (Fig.2) [6]. Back reinforcement of bath tubs and shower trays made from acrylic resin can now be carried out with a newly developed, low-styrene UP resin by the spray-up method. This process cuts styrene emissions as com...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Transparency in Injection Moulding
... fluctuations. It is the constant contact of the mould contour surfaces with the surface of the moulded part during the entire compression process (until the end of the cooling time) that results in the desired surface quality of the product, and enables the window to cool down with low stresses. In addition, the constant contact encourages heat transfer, which is reflected in minimal cooling times. In this case, the mould is at no time closed to a fixed mould stop. The "stop" is the pro...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Trends in Injection Moulding: Specialists Increasingly in Demand
...werful motors and self-sufficient direct drives become more widespread. Quality Assurance integrated into the Machine-control System In order for quality assurance and monitoring systems to be better matched to the machine technology and to enable machine operation to be configured more easily, there will be a tendency in future to incorporate these areas into the control system. The sensors will be integrated into the machine and the mould, with a view to achieving a self-optimising quality a...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Vehicle Acoustics: Reducing Noise Development in Vehicles
...(Fig. 9). Apart from characterising materials, the above-mentioned experimental methods are also suitable for acoustic measurements on entire components (Fig. 10). Comparisons of the results obtained with different modifications of a component enable the acoustic differences to be evaluated. Drawing on its comprehensive experience of polyamides and knowledge of the acoustic fundamentals of various automotive parts and modules, Rhodia Engineering Plastics is developing new grades of high-perform...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Water-assisted injection moulding: Water Increases Productivity
...or less reached its limits. These are poor thermal conductivity, low heat capacity, compressibility and the need to use a high-purity gas. Precisely these limitations of GIT, however, are the strengths of water-assisted injection moulding (WIT) that enable it to open up new industrial applications. For example, WIT can help the automotive and automotive-subcontracting sectors to make major economies in the production of media lines, such as cooling-water and oil-feed pipes. It can also be used t...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Welding: Lasers from the Box
...3, right) can even be mounted on small, inexpensive robot systems or XY traversing axes. In this connection, even large distances or difficult-to-access processing cells can be readily bridged with fibre lengths of up to 50 m. Modular optics enable the size of the focal point to be adjusted to the workpiece without the need for tools, by simply and quickly swapping the focusing parts. The linking of additional components, such as CCD cameras and sensors for process monitoring, is made possible b...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, What Barrier Screws Can Achieve
...ing capacity in the case of PE (Fig. 2 below). Unlike with PP, however, even with very short residence times the plasticizing capacities still differ very considerably. In the typical residence time range for high-speed applications, barrier screws enable capacity increases of up to 60 % to be achieved in injection moulding of PE. Another characteristic difference between three-zone and barrier screws is the greater sensitivity of barrier screws to back pressure, i. e. an increase in back pressu...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, What Customer Focus Really Means
...ptical properties, permeability, processing properties, combination properties with other materials) to open up new areas of application - Increase in processing productivity through savings on processing and shaping costs - Shorten cycle times and enable smaller lot sizes through automation - Open up new applications through novel properties and functions These targets must stem from a joint vision of the future that everybody can work towards. The key sources of ideas must be the users or proc...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, What Hardens Surfaces
...-to-use components can be hardened without altering their dimensional tolerances. In order to be able to assess the behaviour of these materials in practical use, different mould elements were produced and measured before, during and after use. To enable the start of the wear process to be recorded, in particular, it was necessary to find a highly accurate and high-resolution measurement method. The results for the mould component "drive segment" are set out in more detail below. Measur...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Which Drive for An Injection Moulding Machine?
...rns (described above), most Japanese injection moulding machine manufacturers enjoy certain advantages, with the result that developments in Japan are already tending towards direct drives. Sumitomo and Nissei use electric motors, for instance, that enable spindles to be driven direct, which obviates the need for the toothed belt. Apart from the elimination of the gear, stated advantages are lower weight of the drive system, improved response and a reduction in dust emissions. Linear motors are ...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-21, Windows Production: Welding Time Slashed by a Factor of Ten
...nced gained in a wide range of sectors was the deciding factor: Simotion controllers are successfully used in machines for plastics processing, in the textiles sector, in the shaping, printing and packaging sectors and elsewhere. The controllers enable complex movements, simple logic functions, linking of input signals and the computation and setting of output signals to be performed simultaneously. Technology functions, such as temperature control and speed control of winders, do not require ad...

Kunststoffe international, 2005-11-30, Fluoro Polymers: Safe Construction of Chemical Apparatus and Plant
...n protection, for example in flue-gas desulphurization plants, as well as lining materials for apparatus and containers requiring corrosion protection in the chemical industry. Additionally, the fluoro polymers possess non-stick properties that enable them to serve as non-stick linings for compression moulds in those areas of industry in which thin coatings are inadequate because they cannot withstand mechanical loading. A comprehensive range of semifinished goods, blocks and films can be used f...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-01-09, PE-HD Compounds for Pipe Extrusion: Optimised Properties
... This dual function of the high-molecular chains makes for high values in terms of toughness, stress cracking resistance and notch resistance. The modified polymerisation process and the bimodal microstructure that can now be achieved with it enable the raw material producer to jointly optimise the previously mentioned conflicting functional properties. In the case of Hostalen CRP 100 Black, for example, it has been possible to increase its strength as extrapolated according to ISO/TR 9080 for ...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-01-09, Plasma Processes: The Functionalisation of Plastic Surfaces
...for industrial application. Ernst Schmachtenberg Andreas Hegenbart Through the application of a coating or by specially treating the surface, it is possible to modify the surface properties of a component irrespective of its volume properties. This enables the general advantages of plastics such as low density, high impact strength, favourable crash behaviour and wide shaping/moulding potential to be combined with specific surface properties such as scratch resistance, gas-proofness, soil repel...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-01-15, Process Development: Tomorrow’s Tubes Today
...e or size are substantial. This makes it very hard to differentiate a product or to fit it into a family of products. A Designer’s Dream Come True Australian based company Zestron Research has developed a technology which, in a world first, enables the commercial production of multi-dose injection moulded plastic squeeze tubes for use in the packaging of consumer and industrial products such as pharmaceuticals glues, mastics and sealants as well as cosmetics and toiletries. With their fill proc...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-01-25, PET Recycling: Higher Profitability due to Inline Crystallisation
...nt pelletizing solutions) in Großostheim/Germany. The first pilot plant was sold in spring 2005 and was put into commission as part of the Kruschitz firm in Völkermarkt/Carinthia in January 2006. Successful implementation of this technique will enable recycling companies to offer high-quality, completely crystallised strand pellets in the future. How it Works In comparison with conventional strand pelletising, strands processed with the Vacurema technology with integrated inline crystallisat...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-02-21, Nanocoating: Seat Coverings: Soil-repellent and Comfortable
...ctrostatic charge accumulation on material combinations by exposing them to abrasive and compressive stresses under defined environmental conditions. As the test results in Fig.1 show, antistatic agents for upholstery materials are available, which enable human electrostatic charge accumulation to be partly reduced or wholly prevented. The most effective result was achieved with antistatic agents operating on a moisture-independent basis. With incorporation of conductive components, the effect i...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-02-21, Polyamide and ABS: Two Unlike Brothers Unite
...ance, coatability and ease of processing, represent a highly interesting set of properties. Not only can this material comply with the technical specifications relating to the visible areas of a car interior and enable high-quality design variations, system costs can also be considerably reduced. For this reason, the use of (PA+ABS) blends as structural components represents a useful and economically interesting alternative to established materials. The Author: Dr. Stephan Grutke, born in 1965,...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-02-22, Mathematical Model: Economic Stabilisation
...ld were chosen to provide the most uniform possible variance and information density throughout the experimental field. At the end, a mathematical model would empirically describe the field studied. The number of formulations was chosen so as to enable a quadratic model to be tested and built as required (individual effects, interactions and any further higher order effects; see Fig.4). By selecting a maximum quadratic model with uniform variance (d-optimum), the number of tests can be reduced ...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-02-22, Surface Technology: Opportunities for UV Curing
...een the paint system and the substrate and to cover the roughness of the component surface and any defects in the substrate. In the case of light-coloured basecoats with low hiding power, primers can also assist in coloration. Conductive primers enable plastic components to be painted by electrostatic painting technology (ESTA). In Europe, one- and two-component PUR primers predominate at the present time. Solvent-based primers frequently have high solids content (about 60%). They are applied in...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-05-23, Application Solutions: Nanoproducts Highly Praised – But What Are the Benefits?
...in the BASF ISIS laboratory at the University of Strasbourg (Fig.11). The examples mentioned show that nanotechnology has great potential for creating innovative polymers. It will make an important contribution towards saving resources and enable new combinations of properties to be achieved. It will also confront science and industry with fascinating and unexpected questions and so permit surprising solutions. Nanotechnology will initiate a whole new cycle of innovation in the world of polymer...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-05-24, Process Control: The ABC of Mould-Sensor Systems
...y on account of the possible applications in the field of control systems, they are rapidly gaining in importance. The prerequisite for this is sufficiently fast response times on the part of the sensors, and intelligent electronics that enable the measured temperature rises to also be used as switching signals. References: 1 Menges, G.: Spritzgießen: Verfahrensablauf, Verfahrensparameter, Prozessführung. Carl Hanser Verlag, München 1979. 2 Bader, C.: Maschinenunabhängig und flexibel. Plastvera...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-05-24, The Possibilities of Computational Methods (Part 1): Tools for Modelling Single-screw Systems
... the greatest accuracy [1]. The results of this work are translated into handy software tools as part of two-year joint research projects. The use of such tools makes it possible to optimise existing and new processes cost effectively, because they enable the user to interpret the changes in screw geometry without the need for cost-intensive experiments. Modelling and Simulation Capabilities. The basic principle behind the use of PSI and REX to simulate the process behaviour of screw geometries...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-06-29, On-line Control: Process Control for Thermosetting Plastic Materials
..., their price is quite reasonable, if compared to other plastics. All of these favourable characteristics are of crucial importance when it comes to the manufacturing of electrical fittings, such as switches, sockets, fuse elements, etc. So as to enable free colour design, bright plastic materials are usually preferred, i.e. especially urea resins. One of the mostly used aminoplastics is UF 131.5, which was designed by the AVK-TV (Federation of Reinforced Plastics e.V.). For the examinations con...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-06-30, Extended Spectrum: High-Tech in Three Dimensions
...draulic operation which can similarly achieve clear savings on active power. This applies especially for the production of parts with long cooling times. Krauss-Maffei offers customers test runs with loaned units to enable them to assess the savings that they could make. PU Technology. The Reaction Technology business unit presented itself as a system supplier for the very first time at the summer forum. Alongside the classical product portfolio of mixing heads and metering machines, as well as ...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-07-31, Flexible Machinery: The Latest Way to Package Treats
...nd, it is essential to meet the challenge of producing complex and demanding shapes and variants of cups and trays economically. On the other hand, the thermoforming machines used also have to be based on a sufficiently flexible machinery concept to enable them to cope successfully with any further trend toward decreasing batch sizes. In recent years, two phenomena in European society have impacted the food packaging industry: the average number of people per household and their eating habits....

Kunststoffe international, 2006-08-06, Lightweight Construction: Sandwiches with Nap Cores
... that has been stabilised with resin. Since it is based on a surface from which the naps protrude, good drapability for producing complex structures is ensured. The impregnated framework knitted fabric is not an intact surface. The open mesh holes enable the full interior space of the sandwich to be drained. The base surface and the surfaces on the naps facilitate good adhesion of the face sheets since the adhesive surface is large. The cavities between the naps offer space for integrating cable...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-14, Editorial: Divided World
...e mark to refer to “old Europe” as underdeveloped in this respect. The fact that Japanese manufacturers have dominated this market segment for a long time is something that people have got used to in the meantime. The high numbers that they sell enable them to produce at an unrivalled low cost. But things are now livening up. A dozen Taiwanese producers have joined ranks, and the Chinese market leader is financing the start-up of a company in Germany – both with the aim of developing their own d...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-26, Material Handling: Basis of Product Quality
...veyed to a wrong place. It must also be ensured that the materials reach the machines just as they have left the storage or drying stations. Most hydraulic and mechanical conveying systems have increasingly been replaced by pneumatic systems that enable faster and gentler transport, while, at the same time making higher flexibility in material variation possible. Whether single or multiple conveying units are better suited for the actual purpose depends on the number of machines to be supplied, ...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-27, Progress and Trends: More Condition-oriented than Preventive
...maintenance strategy (Table 1) depending on their own business strategy. Those responsible for the decisions should consider maintenance an essential component even when purchasing machinery. Basically, it is the objective of all activities to enable the required reliability at minimal cost and to diagnose machine faults and wear level very early to avoid primary and secondary damages. Consequently, maintenance as a whole becomes the responsibility of management. Action is necessary in many smal...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-27, Trend Outline: Integration and Intelligence
...t be stepped up and their production automated (Fig. 1). In this way, large series of high-quality parts can be produced, with costs still competitive. Integrating subsequent processes of post-processing injection moulded parts enables the producer to step up the parts’ complexities in order to reduce costs and improve qualities. Process steps such as coating, varnishing and decorating of surfaces will thus be integrated into the production cycle even more in the future. This may help prevent d...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-09-28, Laser Welding: Race with Beams
...mum of space. Seal welding of capillary micro fluid structures by using other welding methods is extremely difficult or even impossible at all. However, even current low-cost system technology such as beam guidance by a galvanometer scanner enables seal welding of these structures. In former times, this would call for Nd:YAG laser sources, which could easily be focussed, but were expensive, still, or stencilling had to be effected, which was an inflexible technique. Fibre lasers or fibre-coupled...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-12-06, Corporate Strategy: Global Thinking and Acting in Corporate Technical Operations
...epartments involved worldwide understand each other immediately but also that the same quality requirements apply universally throughout the company. Regional management further takes responsibility for meeting customer requirements to enable geographical and cultural proximity to clients. The Bad Oeynhausen site in Germany has a strategically and structurally changing importance for Balda. Germany continues to play a primary role in matters of technology and know-how. Although the regional site...

Kunststoffe international, 2006-12-06, Polyetheretherketone: Material Advantages in Semiconductor Production
...y, few FOUP induced handling faults causing unscheduled downtime, less particle generation on equipment, less downtime for cleaning, and fewer lost lots or wafer breakage. Back-end process: the choice of an appropriate polymer material can enable back-end test OEMs to enhance their performance with easier processing, improved moulding yields, stronger parts, thinner walls, and lead-free solder processing solutions. This applies across a wide range of back-end test applications, including high te...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-01-22, Corona Treatment For Any Material Thickness
...asma technology based on the Aldyne process makes it possible to use controlled gas atmospheres in the electrode. As a result, the chemical processes in the plasma and ultimately on the treated surface can be controlled in a specific way. This enables functional coatings in monolayer thickness (typically 0.3 to 0.4nm) to be produced from, for example, amido, imido or amino groups covalently bonded to the uppermost polymer chains. These groups enable a bond to be achieved between the polymer and ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-02-13, Process for Quality Moulds
...NX wizards – special solutions for mould making, with which many routine activities can be automated, both for design and planning tasks and for NC programming and change processes. In addition, NX, in conjunction with Team Centre, enables several designers or planners to work on the same mould at the same time. This is the only way for Four-Tec designers to settle orders for 200 highly complex moulds per year. The company is now reaping the benefit of the advance spadework as regards mould stan...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-03-15, Modular Concepts for Lighter Engines
...phide or polyphthalamide are finding increasing use for numerous engine components in modern automobiles. As opposed to light aluminium, they offer an even greater potential for lightweight construction. It is the design freedom of plastics that has enabled the manufacture of complex modules – with a positive effect on costs. Michael Römer Technical plastics offer a range of advantages that are of particular interest especially in the automotive industry. For example, even when compared with...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-04-17, Higher Performance, Lower Weight
...emi-finished products. By employing different textiles with selected fibre orientation, it is possible to achieve an anisotropic layer structure which is aligned to the load acting on the part and can ultimately enable optimised lightweight construction in a wide range of applications. A comparison with other materials can only be achieved free from value judgements if the comparison focuses on specific characteristic variables, i.e. characteristic values that are expressed in terms of the densi...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-05-14, Big Opportunity for the Plastics Industry
...ped and p (positively)-doped layers in the semiconductor. These oppositely loaded layers generate an electric field, leading to dissociation of the released charge carriers. Metal contacts can now pick off electric voltage (Fig.2). This is enabled by screen-printing, in the form of thin fingers, a silver conductor paste onto the front and connecting it to the backside overall aluminium plating by contact firing. In order to achieve the performance desired, several silicon solar cells are connect...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-05-14, More than Testing
...tocols are usually a combination of open-air and laboratory weathering trials. Classical macroscopic methods such as gloss measurement and colorimetry can be supplemented with chemical methods of analysis and statistical design of experiments. These enable additional information to be gained about how a product responds to the influence of weather factors. Weathering tests usually take a very long time. If the test results have to be rejected, perhaps because trials were poorly designed or perfo...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-06-18, Expertise at the Micro-Level
...g sensors), promote fuel economy while driving (air mass flow sensors), report the tyre pressure (tyre pressure sensors) and create a pleasant environment (gas sensors in the air conditioning system). In medical technology, point-of-care systems enable patients to be supervised locally, and minimally invasive techniques help avoid major surgical interventions. Extensive capital outlay in conjunction with complex technologies that have a high interdisciplinary focus present a huge challenge to de...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-06-18, Plastification by an Intermediate Layer
Plastification by an Intermediate Layer Welding Technology The intermediate film method enables the user to join any types of transparent plastic components desired by laser transmission welding. The film’s thickness and carbon black content significantly determine the weld strength. Edmund Haberstroh Wolf-Martin Hoffmann Industry today frequently uses laser transmission welding, thanks to certain favourable features in terms of process technology. Among these is the option of non-contact ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-07-18, Joint Solution
...components. Therefore, one of the major challenges was the closure technology of the cartridge. It must not only be leak-tight, but it is moreover essential that component tolerances, ranging at a hundredth-scale, must be adhered to, in order to enable separation of the red blood particles. So as to achieve these targets, the manufacturer had to make up a decision between the techniques of adhesion bonding, supersonic welding and laser transmission welding. The latter process is characterized by...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-07-18, Re-Discovering Variotherm Mold Tempering
Re-Discovering Variotherm Mold Tempering Improving Qualities Employing variotherm mold tempering in injection molding may help improve part qualities and reduce optical flaws. It may even enable for certain superficial effects, such as formed microstructures, that could not be done before. Having been neglected over a long time, this technique is re-gaining popularity – right on time for the K trade fair. While injecting the material into a chilled mold, the melt solidifies, starting from the...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-07-18, Serial Numbers for Broken Bones
...number on the side betrays the fact that the bone is not genuine. Says Fischer, "Naturally, we can’t use a saw to replicate all the various kinds of fracture that occur in the plastic bones. We also have a variety of specialist tools that enable us to break the bones any way we want." Practicing Breaking Bones What sounds brutal actually has a humane background: Synbone AG in Malans, Switzerland, produces and markets replica human and animal bones from polyurethane (PU) and is the worl...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-08-14, Conserving Resources through Plastics
...ably reduce the amount of energy required for heating and cooling. It has thus been confirmed that plastics are energy-efficient materials which help us reduce our energy requirements in an economically and ecologically meaningful way and thus enable us to ensure the availability of energy over the long term. Dr. John Feldmann, Member of the Board of BASF AG with responsibility for plastics, oil and gas

Kunststoffe international, 2007-08-14, Sophisticated, Robust, Resource-Saving
...f this is "Pleo", an approximately 20cm tall dinosaur figure created by Ugobe, Inc., Emeryville, CA, USA, and sold by Joker AG, Kerzers, Switzerland (Title photo). Some 40 sensors, 14 servomotors and a newly developed software platform enable this very natural-looking toy to move about autonomously, react to stimuli and even walk to its charging station by itself. Pleo learns from interacting with his surroundings, i.e., develops his own personality. Not only his skin coloring, but also ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, Face Lifts for Molded Parts
...gned for machining large dimension parts or alternate processing of two small parts. The swarf is collected under the work table in containers or removed using a vacuum system. Brushless motors and the latest generation of control systems enable high speed working. The machine options include an electric spindle with automatic tool changer or a revolver with three or four spindles and an electric spindle with double output. A special wrist with the spindle axis offset from the C axis enlarges th...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, Faster – More Specific – More Efficient
...nd, at the same time, more efficient R&D techniques to accelerate the development of specialty products. Jürgen Stebani Gerhard Maier Erwin Bacher Plastics’ capability to adapt to totally different requirement profiles in so many ways has enabled them to displace classic materials, such as wood, glass or metals from innumerable applications. In order to access even more application areas and continuously expand the range of use for plastics, producers and processors of polymers have been dev...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, It’s the Mixture that Counts
...boratory-scale twin-screw extruder with a screw diameter of 12mm and 36D length. With its horizontally divisible and hinged extruder barrel, the machine can be stopped during an experiment, thus allowing a look inside the processing unit. This enables both visual evaluation and sample removal, as well as easy screw removal and rapid cleaning of the processing unit. With modular design extruder screws and a barrel opening for metering and degassing, this laboratory extruder shares all the potenti...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, Nothing but Bottle Caps
...ns more savings in operating energy. Standard injection molding machines have to be set up for various applications. By contrast, the clamp unit’s high-capacity hydraulic accumulator (Fig.2) is precisely attuned to high dynamic ranges. This enables rapid clamp force build-up together with high-dynamic mold clamping safety, yet without a locking mechanism. Clamping force is designed to act on the center of the moveable platen, in order to secure parallelism in the bending resistant steel platen a...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, Shuttling the Mold
... size of the actual mold by using electromechanically moved air baffles. Air flow direction and speed may be adjusted to critical areas of the mold, making sure the material is compounded and processed homogeneously. Two defined heating programs enable the user to set the machine’s heating unit according to the different production parameters, while switching to and fro between the two modes. This way, even for components that are difficult to be produced, such as thick-walled products, qualitie...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-09-19, Uniloy Launches Energy Initiative
... Managing Director of Global Blow Molding at Uniloy Milacron Fig. 2. Plastification and motion have the highest energy requirements Fig. 3. Especially in plastification, energy consumption could be clearly reduced Fig. 4. Barrier screws enable 10°C lower melt temperatures

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Automation Package out of One Hand
...g), - To control mass pressures, - For the alarm and message systems, - For trend charts (with archive), - To manage recipes, - To integrate additional external devices (e.g. gravimetric dosing units or melt pumps). As a hardware unit to enable comfortable working, an operating panel (type: Simatic Multi Panel MP277 Touch) was employed, enabling Ankele to continue its proven operating philosophy without respite. The new generation of operator panels has a 10.4" touch screen and an embedded o...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Bioplastics
... There are many reasons to believe that bioplastics will leave their niche status in the coming decade. At present, they are better off in this market, since the high investment costs also require high margins to enable sufficiently rapid refinancing. Until the bioplastics industry sees an unrestricted flow of capital, companies will still have to earn their money with premium products in small markets. There is no doubt that the industry is willing to invest. But the financial markets are stil...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Complete Control
Complete Control Polymer and Sheet Production Applying the Close-Loop concept, a raw material producer’s off-line laboratory is enabled to perform continuous online metering. This continuous control makes it possible for the manufacturer to optimize the process, while making immediate amendments. At the same time, the raw material’s quality is determined. Even producers of high-end films monitor 100% of the extrusion process, thus detecting problems in raw material or process quickly. This way...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, In three Seconds from 100 to 140 Degree
...ut controlling the heater elements via conventional hot-runner regulators already installed in many machines can be a economical way to integrate them in the existing infrastructure. Conclusions Rapid Heating Ceramics (RHC) enable highly dynamic and energy efficient temperature regulation of molds and mold elements. This is due to the proximity of heating elements to the cavities and to the consequently small amount of process relevant mold mass – only the shaping region of the cavity surface ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Perfect Eyes
...to add the greatest feasible value, it should also be possible to install the inspection system on a winder after slitting the sheet or film lengthwise, and even right up to the printing and coating phase. Smash does not only enable sheet or film to be inspected during its production and for target levels to be secured through first-class quality and a low reject rate. It can also be used to generate profit and benefits for the company in the later stages of adding value. Isra Vision offers the ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Polyaryletherketones (PAEK)
...nents frequently combine requirements on chemical resistance, temperature and mechanical performance. These advantages of PEEK, combined with the integration of various functions achievable by injection molding technology, enable the successful development of a modern platform for sample preparation. The reaction vessels are microwave transparent and manufactured from glass-filled PEEK to withstand temperatures of up to 200°C at 20bar pressure. Product Innovations and Trends In 2006, Victrex i...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-10-21, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
...mpounds for bottle applications. Pure PET homopolymers for such applications are largely being replaced by copolymers with low quantities of comonomers such as isophthalic acid or 1.4 cyclohexandimethanol. These products enable shorter molding cycles in preform production. In order to accelerate the cycle rates for blow molding by faster prewarming of the preforms, infrared absorbers are being added to molding compounds. Producers continue to tune PET melt viscosity to the product and its proces...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-11-21, Introduction of Predetermined Airbag Tear Lines in Decorative Skins
..., higher accuracy was achieved than with current robot-assisted systems and at the same time the quality of process monitoring was considerably improved because cutting forces could be taken into account for the first time. These advances also enable the design of the cutting machine as a whole and the fixtures to be greatly simplified, so that finally it has been possible to develop the most cost-effective airbag tear line solution in this high accuracy class. The Authors Dr.-Ing. Thorsten Sc...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-11-21, Taking Network Apprenticeship Training to a New Level
...emove each CD case from the mold with the aid of a vacuum; in the same movement the two halves were pressed together in order that the living hinge could be embossed (compression). This had to be done while the article was hot so as to enable it to withstand constant opening and closing. This was followed by a 3-axis movement to place the case on the conveyor belt. The trainees also designed the control and mechanical layout of the robot, with the support of the trainers. Conclusion The joint ...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-12-17, Meeting Application Demands with Accuracy
...ine signals or information from pressure-temperature sensors. In the course of 2008, the company will integrate MultiFlow in the system, being another module designed to balance hot-runners. Based on mold cavity pressures, this module is going to enable fully automatic control of hot-runner temperatures, thus making sure all cavities are filled homogeneously. It therefore ensures zero-error production. At the K2007 trade fair, there was an impressive presentation of this, displaying production o...

Kunststoffe international, 2007-12-17, Short Process for Hybrid Structures
...gn for Manufacturing Off-mold Hybrid Parts The basic geometric shape of the model system is a short U-shaped section of a hybrid structure (Fig. 3, right). For production, a mold with different mold inserts was developed (Fig. 3, left). This mold enabled the thickness of the semi-finished fabric sheet, the edge radius and the flank angle to be varied. Evaluation of the contact on the connection plane includes macroscopic, microscopic and mechanical investigations. The P/FCP material combination...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-01-15, The Circle Closes
...g process (> 80°C). The danger of material conglutination and bridge formation already exists, if PET granulate or ground PET material is introduced into the drying hopper with an amorphous proportion of more than 10%. Why Crystallize? To enable drying at temperatures greater than 160°C, the PET has to be converted beforehand from an amorphous to a semi-crystalline state. For this process the crystallizer (manufacturer: Mann+Hummel ProTec GmbH, Bensheim, Germany, titel picture) is used: PET (A...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-02-17, Growth in Specialties
...in epoxides. Technical customer service is provided either from Korea or by locally outsourced laboratory services available worldwide. In this way, the corporate structure is kept slim. With regard to REACH, Songwon will register 150 molecules to enable its complete range to satisfy future European requirements. The company has already recognized that REACH will set the benchmark for the chemical industry outside Europe as well. The EU directives on RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) an...

Kunststoffe international, 2008-04-14, Better Hearing with Polymers
Better Hearing with Polymers Micro Injection Molding Middle ear implants help improve the quality of life for many people with sensorineural hearing loss. The use of plastics here enables entirely new approaches. Marc Hoffstetter Erhard Krampe Erich Wintermantel Every fifth German above 14 years of age suffers from sensorineural hearing loss, either congenital or acquired during his or her lifetime. The risk of such an affliction increases with age. By the age of 50, every second is affect...