nanocomposites
NPE 2000 News Wrap-Up: Extrusion
At this year’s NPE, new processes to put wood flour into plastic were virtually everywhere—several even start with undried flour.
Read MoreNPE Newsfinder: Compounding and Mixing
For the second straight NPE show, the focus in compounding is on twin-screw machines that deliver more speed and torque—thus more output—than ever before. No fewer than six suppliers of twin-screw compounders are showing such machines. There’s something to see in in-line systems as well. And there’s plenty of news in PVC mixers and pelletizing equipment, too.
Read MoreNPE 2000 News Wrap-Up: Engineering Thermoplastics
NPE 2000 saw the debut of many new nylons, ranging from 6 and 66 types that are tougher, easier to process, and lower in density to a brand-new class of branched nylons with outstanding physical and rheological properties and a long-carbon-fiber grade that combines high electrical shielding with flame retardance.Also new at the show were extrusion-grade and reinforced PPS, new PPS alloys, and new sources of high-heat, reinforced polyphthalamide, PEEK, and syndiotactic polystyrene compounds.
Read MoreNPE Newsfinder: Extrusion
NPE will show higher outputs of practically everything, as advances in grooved feeds, servo drives, screw torque, mixing screws, dies, and downstream cooling, cutting, and handling make everything run faster.
Read MoreWood Tubes Close-Up
Hollow tubing with a high loading of wood fiber is one of the newest products—and one of the trickiest—in the booming business of wood-filled thermoplastic extrusion.
Read MoreNPE Newsfinder: Engineering Thermoplastics
Expect to see numerous entries in automotive engineering thermoplastics at NPE, including a totally new amorphous thermoplastic that is said to provide a breakthrough in color and gloss retention outdoors without painting. Besides exterior body panels, new automotive materials for under-hood, interior, structural, and mechanical parts like gears will also be plentiful.
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How to Optimize Adhesion in Hard-Soft Overmolding
Over the past decade, soft-touch overmolding has radically changed the look, feel, and function of a broad range of consumer products.
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TP Composites: New Option in Lightweight PP/Glass Composites
From its Detroit-area offices, Swiss-based Quadrant Plastics Composites (QPC) has introduced a family of lightweight reinforced thermoplastic (LWRT) composites to North America.
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Garbage In, Good Plastics Out
Experts consider it the most high-tech recycling plant in the world: Schwarzataler Kunststoff in Germany takes dirty bottles and film from post-consumer recycling and turns them into automotive and other compounds in a fully automated process.
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Nanocomposites Broaden Roles in Automotive, Barrier Packaging
Nanocomposites are gradually gaining acceptance in the mainstream of global plastics processing. These polymer compounds, containing relatively low loadings (under 6% by weight) of nanometer-sized mineral particles, are beginning to show up in polypropylene and TPO-based automotive exterior claddings, barrier beer bottles, nylon packaging films, polyethylene pipe and wire/cable coatings, and more.
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