Extrusion continued

Its malleability and ductility make it possible to produce zinc in sheet, strip and plate form by rolling and as rod and wire by extrusion continuous casting is also used. Rolled zinc in sheet and strip form is a well-established... 

Extrusion Continuous form Extrusion press Hardened steel Thermoplastic 0.01-0.30 mm None None Possible to Low (tooling is... 

ESA electrostatic assist ExCM extrusion continuous molding... 

In continuous processing, a fixed transversal screw, comparable to extrusion, continuously forces out a plasticized strand onto a heated discharge belt. 

There are a multitude of commercially available machines that will adequately perform these operations in a variety of ways, e.g. intermittent extrusion, continuous extrusion, horizontal or vertical extruder arrangement. 

Extrusion Continuous process in which the feed materials, generally refined cereal grits or flours supplemented with other ingredients, are transformed into foods such as different types of pasta products, breakfast cereals, and snacks. Cold extrusion is used for the production of pasta products, whereas thermoplastic extrusion is used for the production of breakfast cereals, snacks, and pregelatinized flours. 

Continuous Solvent—Extrusion Process. A schematic for a typical continuous process, widely used for making solvent propellant for cannons, is shown in Figure 7. This continuous process produces ca 1100 metric tons of single-base propellant per month at the U.S. Army Ammunition Plant (Radford, Virginia). Continuous processes have also been developed for double- and triple-base propellants and for stick as well as granular geometries. A principal aspect of these processes has been the extensive use of single- and double-screw extmders instead of the presses used in the batch process. 

K. T. O Brien, Computer Modelingfor Extrusion and Other Continuous Eolymer Erocesses, Hanser PubHshers, Munich, Germany, 1992. 

The most chemical-resistant plastic commercially available today is tetrafluoroethylene or TFE (Teflon). This thermoplastic is practically unaffected by all alkahes and acids except fluorine and chlorine gas at elevated temperatures and molten metals. It retains its properties up to 260°C (500°F). Chlorotrifluoroethylene or CTFE (Kel-F, Plaskon) also possesses excellent corrosion resistance to almost all acids and alkalies up to 180°C (350°F). A Teflon derivative has been developed from the copolymerization of tetrafluoroethylene and hexafluoropropylene. This resin, FEP, has similar properties to TFE except that it is not recommended for continuous exposures at temperatures above 200°C (400°F). Also, FEP can be extruded on conventional extrusion equipment, while TFE parts must be made by comphcated powder-metallurgy techniques. Another version is poly-vinylidene fluoride, or PVF2 (Kynar), which has excellent resistance to alkahes and acids to 150°C (300°F). It can be extruded. A more recent development is a copolymer of CTFE and ethylene (Halar). This material has excellent resistance to strong inorganic acids, bases, and salts up to 150°C. It also can be extruded. 

Extrusion, by its nature, is ideally suited to the production of continuous lengths of plastic mouldings with a uniform cross-section. Therefore as well as producing the laces as described in the previous section, the simple operation of a die change can provide a wide range of profiled shapes such as pipes, sheets, rods, curtain track, edging strips, window frames, etc (see Fig. 4.18). 

The convention extrusion blow moulding process may be continuous or intermittent. In the former method the extruder continuously supplies molten polymer through the annular die. In most cases the mould assembly moves relative to the die. When the mould has closed around the parison, a hot knife separates the latter from the extruder and the mould moves away for inflation, cooling and ejection of the moulding. Meanwhile the next parison will have been produced and this mould may move back to collect it or, in multi-mould systems, this would have been picked up by another mould. Alternatively in some machines the mould assembly is fixed and the required length of parison is cut off and transported to the mould by a robot arm. 

Extrusion blow moulding is continually developing to be capable of producing even more complex shapes. These include unsymmetrical geometries and double wall mouldings. In recent years there have also been considerable... 

This is produced by a continuous extrusion process, which gives the product a smooth-surface skin and enhances the mechanical properties. 

Extrusion coating is ideal for rods, tube and wire. The article is passed through a paint reservoir and then out via a die, which leaves only the correct thickness of paint in place. There are further techniques suitable for flat articles in sheet or web form. Knife coating is ideal for very thin coats, especially on continuous paper or plastic webs. The knife is either a metal doctor blade or a curtain of high velocity air (an air knife) directed onto the surface and it removes surplus material applied previously. 

For several basic reasons, the extrusion process does not have the large number of possible process product interactions that the preceding molding methods presented. Due to this situation it can not fabricate the complex shapes and tighter tolerances obtained from molding. The process is a steady-state continuous production operation that can be brought to a condition of control. However it has its share of potential problems (Chapter 8, EXTRUSION). 

Process used provides different control capabilities. As an example closed molding (injection, compression, etc.) provides fine detail on all surfaces. Open molding (blow molding, thermoforming, spray-up, etc.) provides detail only on the one side in contact with the mold, leaving the second side free-formed. Continuous production (extrusion and pultrusion) yields products of continuous length. Hollow (rotational or blow) produces hollow products. These processes can be used creatively to make different types of products. For example, two molded or thermo-formed components can be bonded together to form a hollow product, or they can be blow molded. 

A major difference between extrusion and IM is that the extruder processes plastics at a lower pressure and operates continuously. Its pressure usually ranges from 1.4 to 10.4 MPa (200 to 1,500 psi) and could go to 34.5 or 69 MPa (5,000 or possibly 10,000 psi). In IM, pressures go from 14 to 210 MPa (2,000 to 30,000 psi). However, the most important difference is that the IM melt is not continuous it experiences repeatable abrupt changes when the melt is forced into a mold cavity. With these significant differences, it is actually easier to theorize about the extrusion melt behavior as many more controls are required in IM. 

The success of any continuous extrusion process depends not only upon uniform quality and conditioning of the raw materials but also upon the speed and continuity of the feed of additives or regrind along with virgin plastic upstream of the extruders hopper. Variations in the bulk density of materials can exist in the hopper, requiring controllers such as weight feeders, etc. 

Fig. 8-39 Continuous in line extrusion system coating short length parts.

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