The Plastics Technology online materials database has a new name, a new look, and lots of new capabilities to help find the right material for a particular job.
I don ’t want to sound Pollyanna-ish about the hard hits that North American molders and moldmakers have taken from overseas competition lately, but the good news about this globalization thing is that the globe is round, not flat.
Custom injection molders raised their machine-hour rates an average of 1% from June to December 2007, according to responses from 93 molders to our latest semi-annual survey.
In 2004, the value of pairing two-material injection with water assist was demonstrated in production of two-layer automotive pipes and ducts (see Learn More). Further potential for this combination of advanced techniques in sequential injection of hollow automotive parts with rigid and flexible sections is being developed at the German Institute of Plastics Processing (known as the IKV). Water injection technology (WIT) was first developed at the IKV in the 1990s.
Aachen, Germany, is a very old city. The Romans enjoyed its hot springs, and Charlemagne made it the capital of his new Holy Roman Empire in 800 A.D. The cathedral, or Dom, once Charlemagne’s private chapel, dates from that era. Since 1950, Aachen has been making history in plastics processing, as well.
A radically new design for high-pressure polyurethane mixing heads is said to apply a more efficient mixing concept that requires lower pressures and thereby simplifies system design. It eliminates the usual internal jets, thereby reducing the level of operator skill needed for flow adjustments and permitting a wider range of flow rates.