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Jim Frankland President
Extruding with Fillers
You can use the reference point from processing unfilled polymer to determine whether you can run filled resin on your current system.
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Don’t Build In Melt-Temperature Variations
It’s not unusual for polymer to exit the extruder with a uniform melt temperature, only to be fouled up by downstream flow pipes and the like. Here’s how to avoid this.
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Which Barrier Screw for You?
It depends ... mostly on the melting requirements of the polymer.
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What Output Can I Expect?
Processors ask screw designers this question a lot. But neither output nor melt temperature can be predicted without details on the polymer and head pressure.
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Extruding Very High-Flow Polymers
Screw designs not suited to process lower-viscosity materials will result in poor melt quality and lower outputs.
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Do You Have Screw Wear?
It’s generally caused by metal-to-metal contact, and your first indicator will be poor melt quality.
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EXTRUSION: Is Head Pressure Sapping Your Extruder’s Strength?
A redesign of all of the flow paths between the end of the barrel and die may be in order.
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EXTRUSION: Orientation: The Good and the Bad
Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, molecular orientation can have a positive or negative impact on your part. Here’s how to control it.
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EXTRUSION: Better Mix In Means Better Mix Out
Segregation or de-mixing of polymers and additives can be a big problem in single-screw extrusion. Here’s why it happens, and how to fix it.
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EXTRUSION: How Slow Can You Go?
Larger screws designed for high outputs will generate a variety of problems if run too slowly. Here’s why.
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EXTRUSION: Finding the Sweet Spot in Screw Design
The compression ratio of a screw does not provide enough detail on how it will perform. Screw design is a balancing act that takes many variables into account.
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The Importance of Barrel Heat and Melt Temperature
Barrel temperature may impact melting in the case of very small extruders running very slowly. Otherwise, melting is mainly the result of shear heating of the polymer.
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