A 360-degree look at resin conveying systems: types, operation, economics, design, installation, components and controls.
This Knowledge Center provides an overview of resin moisture and the drying process, including information on the best drying practices for your manufacturing facility. Cast Nylon Board
Combat the skilled labor shortage using this comprehensive resource to train your own plastics processing experts.
Deep dive into the basics of blending versus dosing, controls, maintenance, process integration and more.
This Knowledge Center provides an overview of the considerations needed to understand the purchase, operation, and maintenance of a process cooling system.
Learn about sustainable scrap reprocessing—this resource offers a deep dive into everything from granulator types and options, to service tips, videos and technical articles.
While the major correction in PP prices was finally underway, generally stable pricing was anticipated for the other four commodity resins.
Despite price increase nominations going into second quarter, it appeared there was potential for generally flat pricing with the exception of a major downward correction for PP.
First quarter was ending up with upward pricing, primarily due to higher feedstock costs and not supply/demand fundamentals.
Despite earlier anticipated rollover in prices for most of the volume commodity resins, prices were generally on the way up for all going into the third month of first quarter.
While price initiatives for PE and PVC were underway, resin prices had rollover potential for first two months of 2024, perhaps with the exception of PET.
Flat-to-downward trajectory for at least this month.
Resin drying is a crucial, but often-misunderstood area. This collection includes details on why and what you need to dry, how to specify a dryer, and best practices.
Take a deep dive into all of the various aspects of part quoting to ensure you’ve got all the bases—as in costs—covered before preparing your customer’s quote for services.
In this collection of articles, two of the industry’s foremost authorities on screw design — Jim Frankand and Mark Spalding — offer their sage advice on screw design...what works, what doesn’t, and what to look for when things start going wrong.
In this collection, which is part one of a series representing some of John’s finest work, we present you with five articles that we think you will refer to time and again as you look to solve problems, cut cycle times and improve the quality of the parts you mold.
Gifted with extraordinary technical know how and an authoritative yet plain English writing style, in this collection of articles Fattori offers his insights on a variety of molding-related topics that are bound to make your days on the production floor go a little bit better.
In this three-part collection, veteran molder and moldmaker Jim Fattori brings to bear his 40+ years of on-the-job experience and provides molders his “from the trenches” perspective on on the why, where and how of venting injection molds. Take the trial-and-error out of the molding venting process.
Mike Sepe has authored more than 25 ANTEC papers and more than 250 articles illustrating the importance of this interdisciplanary approach. In this collection, we present some of his best work during the years he has been contributing for Plastics Technology Magazine.
In this collection of content, we provide expert advice on welding from some of the leading authorities in the field, with tips on such matters as controls, as well as insights on how to solve common problems in welding.
Mold maintenance is critical, and with this collection of content we’ve bundled some of the very best advice we’ve published on repairing, maintaining, evaluating and even hanging molds on injection molding machines.
Thousands of people visit our Supplier Guide every day to source equipment and materials. Get in front of them with a free company profile.
NPE2024: Lowering barriers to additive manufacturing adoption in toolmaking.
Allegheny Performance Plastics turned to 1factory's cloud-based manufacturing quality control software for streamlined, paperless quality systems.
To design the best mixers for single screws, you must completely understand how polymer moves through a mixer channel or groove.
NPE2024: Focus is on additives for plastics including PVC and WPC industries.
At NPE2024, Novatec moves to rewrite the rules for material conveying with patent-pending smart-pump technology.
While the major correction in PP prices was finally underway, generally stable pricing was anticipated for the other four commodity resins.
With no minimum order and an impeccable record of on-time delivery, Precision Color Compounds is becoming a force in the color masterbatch business.
Thermosets were the prevalent material in the early history of plastics, but were soon overtaken by thermoplastics in injection molding applications.
After a six-year hiatus, this year’s show was a resounding success, with meaningful technologies on display that will help processors run their businesses more efficiently.
Key factors for the progress are innovative materials, advanced automation and precision engineering.
Topping five other entries in voting by fellow molders, the Ultradent team talks about their Hot Shots sweep.
Serendipitous Learning Opportunities at PTXPO Underscore the Value of Being Present.
Introduced by Zeiger and Spark Industries at the PTXPO, the nozzle is designed for maximum heat transfer and uniformity with a continuous taper for self cleaning.
Ultradent's entry of its Umbrella cheek retractor took home the awards for Technical Sophistication and Achievement in Economics and Efficiency at PTXPO.
technotrans says climate protection, energy efficiency and customization will be key discussion topics at PTXPO as it displays its protemp flow 6 ultrasonic eco and the teco cs 90t 9.1 TCUs.
Shibaura discusses the upcoming Plastics Technology Expo (PTXPO) March 28-30
Oerlikon HRSflow’s T-Flow HRS control has launched with three models that are configurable to multiples of six zones.
NPE2024: Dukane’s new Ultrasonic Thin Wall welding system is well suited for welding applications of PP to PP TD25 painted parts.
Series offers higher output, lower melt temperatures and energy savings.
Noting that geopolitical changes require new corporate strategies, European plastics and rubber machinery trade groups announced that incoming orders fell 22% in 2023.
System tracks, controls and saves everything from material recipes to process parameters, operator activity from logging on to start, to emergency stops and more.
Unit is designed to match the requirements of feeding low bulk density fillers and materials in the compounding process.
Mixed in among thought leaders from leading suppliers to injection molders and mold makers at the 2023 Molding and MoldMaking conferences will be molders and toolmakers themselves.
After successfully introducing a combined conference for moldmakers and injection molders in 2022, Plastics Technology and MoldMaking Technology are once again joining forces for a tooling/molding two-for-one.
Multiple speakers at Molding 2023 will address the ways simulation can impact material substitution decisions, process profitability and simplification of mold design.
When, how, what and why to automate — leading robotics suppliers and forward-thinking moldmakers will share their insights on automating manufacturing at collocated event.
As self-imposed and government-issued sustainability mandates approach, injection molders reimagine their operations.
August 29-30 in Minneapolis all things injection molding and moldmaking will be happening at the Hyatt Regency — check out who’s speaking on what topics today.
Get your clicking finger in shape and sign up for all that we have in store for you in 2023.
Molding 2023 to take place Aug. 29-30 in Minnesota; Extrusion 2023 slated for Oct. 10-12 in Indiana.
Join this webinar to learn about Conair's patented Conveying with Optimizer system, which utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to overcome resin conveying issues automatically. Conveying with Optimizer uses valves, remote sensors and AI to eliminate conveying challenges that operators face daily throughout the plant. With this new fully-retrofittable solution, interruptions like clogged filters, air leaks, changes in density or distance, moisture changes, and operators making manual adjustments can all be eliminated with Conair's Conveying with Optimizer. Agenda: What exactly is Conveying with Optimizer? What are the benefits of using Conveying with Optimizer? What problems does Conveying with Optimizer overcome? How to upgrade your system
Cooling time is typically the longest step of the molding process. How can you make it more productive? Learn how cooling time can be turned into production time by running two molding processes simultaneously on a single molding machine. For longer cycles, this can mean twice the productivity. In this webinar, you'll learn more about the Shuttle Mold System and how to calculate its potential productivity impacts for your application. Agenda: Learn how the Shuttle Mold System can deliver value to your business See the recent technical updates made to the system Calculate the potential impact on productivity
Discover possible applications in large format printing including layup tools, transport modules, film fixation devices, design components and enclosures. These are used in various industries such as automotive, aerospace, architecture and many others. Agenda: Possible applications in large format printing: layup tools, transport modules, film fixing devices, design components and enclosures. Process reliability and component quality in component production Pros and cons of the technology Sneak peek into current development projects—What will the large format printing of tomorrow look like?
In this webinar, Cold Jet will discuss some of the ways processors use dry ice such as in-machine mold cleaning at operating temperatures, de-flashing or de-burring parts, improving OEE scores, extending mold life, cleaning parts before painting, post-processing 3D printed parts, lowering GHG emissions, and monitoring and reporting the process. Agenda: Cold Jet Overview & Dry Ice 101 Understanding the Process and Fine-Tuning Techniques Case Studies: Applications in Plastics Monitoring the Process Exploring the Importance of Dry Ice Cleaning in an ESG Era
Finding it hard to get technical talent? Experiencing the pain of a knowledgeable, long-term employee's retirement? Learn how plastics processors are training generative AIs on their operations and unlocking the value from their tribal knowledge. Plastics processors are training generative AI models on their operations — from machine manuals to tools, polymers, procedures, maintenance records and engineering projects. Applying generative AI in the right ways can lower plastics processors' costs, improve overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and upskill teams. In this webinar, you'll learn how to deploy AI technical assistants to your teams, what works and what doesn't, and how to use AI to build an organization that never loses tribal knowledge and fosters inter-team collaboration. Agenda: What is generative AI and how can its cognitive abilities be applied to plastics? Case study: how an injection molder trained a large language model on manuals and maintenance records to reduce downtime Case study: using generative AI in engineering teams to improve product development Live demonstration of a generative AI deep-trained on plastics knowledge Looking to the future: five predictions for an AI-augmented workforce in plastics
Turnaround time can be as low as 24 hours, although two or three days might be more typical. Rapid prototyping like this is especially useful to quickly identify critical end-use part geometries that will work in the molding process. Key components include material choice, 3D printing technology selected, use of adaptable mold bases for the mold inserts and implementation of appropriate injection molding process conditions. This presentation will review work conducted toward the assessment of a high-stiffness, high-temperature-resistant ceramic modified urethane acrylate for injection molding inserts. Agenda: Guide for 3D-printed injection mold inserts Optimization of digital light processing (DLP) printing Compatibility with various thermoplastics Real-world application success stories
The Society Plastics Engineers (SPE) Extrusion Division and the SPE Eastern New England Section will co-host the Screw Design Conference-Topcon on June 19-20, 2024 @ UMass Lowell in Lowell, MA. This highly technical program will focus upon screw design principles for single and twin screw extruders with wide ranging topics relating to screw designs for feeding, melting, mixing, venting and pumping plastics products and parts. Areas of focus will include screw designs for melt temperature and gel management, gel minimization, bioplastics, recycled materials and foaming. In addition to the technical sessions, a tour of the UMass Lowel Plastics Processing Laboratories will be integrated into Day 2 of the event. This program is not just for screw designers, but to help anyone responsible for any type of extrusion operation to evaluate existing extrusion equipment; and also to prepare for future projects. Technical Chair: Eldridge M. Mount III, e-mail emmount@msn.com Corporate sponsorships - A limited # of corporate sponsorships (15) are available on a 1st come basis. Included is a 6’ tabletop display (must fit on table), denotation in all promotional activities, and 1 no charge registration. To become a sponsor contact: Charlie Martin, Leistritz Extrusion, e-mail cmartin@leistritz-extrusion.com, cell 973-650 3137 General information: A reception on Day 1 and a tabletop display area will allow the attendees to meet and discuss state-of-the-art screw technologies with industry experts. The SPE Extrusion Division will issue a “Screw Design Certificate” to all participants who have attended the program. Students are encouraged to attend and will receive a discounted rate. For additional information contact: Program Chair: Karen Xiao, Macro Engineering, KXiao@macroeng.com
Debuting in 2010, the Parts Cleaning Conference is the leading and most trusted manufacturing and industrial parts cleaning forum focused solely on delivering quality technical information in the specialized field of machined parts cleansing. Providing guidance and training to understand the recognized sets of standards for industrial cleaning, every year the Conference showcases industry experts who present educational sessions on the latest and most pressing topics affecting manufacturing facilities today. Discover all that the 2022 Parts Cleaning Conference has to offer!
Presented by Additive Manufacturing Media, Plastics Technology and MoldMaking Technology, the 3D Printing Workshop at IMTS 2024 is a chance for job shops to learn the emerging possibilities for part production via 3D printing and additive manufacturing. First introduced at IMTS 2014, this workshop has helped hundreds of manufacturing professionals expand their additive capabilities.
Formnext Chicago is an industrial additive manufacturing expo taking place April 8-10, 2025 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. Formnext Chicago is the second in a series of Formnext events in the U.S. being produced by Mesago Messe Frankfurt, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, and Gardner Business Media (our publisher).
Is a two-year-old hygroscopic resin kept in its original packaging still useful? Let’s try to answer that question and clear up some misconceptions.
What happens to a hygroscopic material like nylon if it is stored in its original packaging for an extended period?
A few weeks ago, a longtime colleague emailed me with a question about the shelf life of two nylon materials. One was a 30% carbon fiber-reinforced nylon 66, while the other was a 20% glass fiber-reinforced nylon 12. My colleague’s company had inherited these materials along with the associated molds and their customer had no need for additional molded parts until two years after the jobs had been transferred.
The customer was now expressing concern that the raw materials, which were still in their original packaging and had been stored in an indoor warehouse during this time, had expired and that their properties would have been compromised. An appeal to the material supplier brought only a statement saying they would stand behind the material if it was less than a year old.
This raises a common conversation in the industry regarding the longevity of raw materials if they are kept in storage for an extended period of time, and there are multiple factors that need to be considered. First, is the material in its original packaging and has that packaging been breached in any way? Has it been been punctured with a forklift, or have stacked gaylords collapsed into one another? This will introduce at least the possibility of contamination. In this case, the potential problems are more significant because these are nylons, which are very hygroscopic materials that can absorb significant amounts of moisture from the atmosphere over time.
There is a myth in our industry that nylon exposed to the air becomes “saturated” and will never dry. But saturation comes from immersion in water and results in moisture content levels of 8.5-9% in nylon 6 and 66. Studies have shown that nylon 66 exposed to typical ambient conditions absorbs approximately 2.2-2.5% moisture by weight of polymer and with some patience and time that moisture is removable. Nevertheless, it is true that once out of the original package, nylon can become more challenging to process.
There is a myth in our industry that nylon exposed to the air becomes “saturated” and will never dry.
But moisture absorption and removal is a reversible process. Ostensibly, shelf-life concerns would pertain to nonreversible mechanisms. Among these would be loss of volatile constituents such as plasticizers. The principal concern, however, is oxidation. All polymers are susceptible to oxidation to some degree. This will depend upon the chemistry of the polymer and the level of stabilization provided against the mechanism. We understand that the rate of oxidation increases with rising temperature, and a useful rule of thumb that governs this relationship between time and temperature states that with every increase of 10oC the reaction rate doubles, thus reducing the expected life of the material by 50%.
This is an exponential relationship, so a rise of 20oC will increase the reaction rate by a factor of 4 (22), a 30oC increase quickens the process by a factor of 8 (23) and so on. We know from studies that the base acceleration rate per 10oC increase is not always exactly 2. It has been observed to be as low as 1.8 and as high as 2.5, but using the generic value of 2 enables a reasonable estimate of how a material will survive exposure to elevated temperatures.
Is there a way to establish an expected shelf life for a material based on published data? In the case of these two materials sitting in my colleague’s warehouse, the answer was yes. The data sheets for both materials published something referred to as a continuous use temperature. This can be a rather loosely defined metric, but it does provide a point of reference for creating an expectation of longevity.
For the nylon 66, the continuous use temperature, as determined by ISO 2578, was given as 100-120oC (212-248oF). For the nylon 12, the published range was 90-120oC (194-248oF). The question then becomes, what time period is referred to by the term “continuous?” Often this refers to a period of 5,000 hours. But, in discussing this property with the material supplier, they offered that continuous in this case referred to 20,000 hours.
To give everyone the benefit of the doubt, we can select the low end of the published range — 100oC for the nylon 66 and 90oC for the nylon 12. Additional caution can be employed by assuming the warehouse temperature (in Nebraska) averaged 30oC (86oF) year-round. This assumption also makes the math simpler. Now, consider that for the nylon 12, a difference of 60oC (140oF) between 90oC and 30oC would slow down the rate of oxidation by a factor of 26 (64).
But moisture absorption and removal is a reversible process.
Multiplying this factor by the reference time of 20,000 hours would give an expected lifetime for the material at room temperature of 1,280,000 hours (a little over 146 years). Even if we dial back the acceleration factor to a level lower than anything we have ever observed, 1.5 for example (to account for what are called cage effects), we still end up with a projected room-temperature lifetime of 26 years. Because the lowest projected continuous use temperature for the nylon 66 is 10oC higher, all these projections would increase by 1.5 to two times, to yield a result of approximately 40-50 years.
So here is the question for material suppliers: If their own published data suggests that parts molded from these materials could last for a quarter to half a century at room temperature, what is it that makes the pellets from which we will produce these parts so fragile that their integrity would be called into question after 12 months? There is an obvious problem in logic here. A cynical person might conclude that this discussion about shelf life, at least in this case, is a disingenuous playing of a “get out of jail free” card.
Of course, these questions can be readily answered by performing tests on the “old” material and a newly minted lot. Molecular weight determinations can be a good place to begin, and as a follow-up, specimens can be molded from the two lots and the mechanical properties can be compared. But, based on the logic we have gone through above, it would be expected that the material that has been sitting on the warehouse shelf for two years will be perfectly serviceable.
While the issue of shelf life appears to have no merit in this particular case, there are instances where it can be a concern. This is a combination of the material in question and some questionable practices in storing the materials. We will address these in our next segment.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Sepe is an independent materials and processing consultant based in Sedona, Arizona, with clients throughout North America, Europe and Asia. He has more than 45 years of experience in the plastics industry and assists clients with material selection, designing for manufacturability, process optimization, troubleshooting and failure analysis. Contact: 928-203-0408 • mike@thematerialanalyst.com
Material behavior is fundamentally determined by the equivalence of time and temperature. But that principle tends to be lost on processors and designers. Here’s some guidance.
The polymers we work with follow the same principles as the body: the hotter the environment becomes, the less performance we can expect.
This so-called 'commodity' material is actually quite complex, making selecting the right type a challenge.
Let’s take another look at this seemingly dull but oh-so-crucial topic.
Coverage of single-use plastics can be both misleading and demoralizing. Here are 10 tips for changing the perception of the plastics industry at your company and in your community.
A collaboration between show organizer PLASTICS, recycler CPR and size reduction experts WEIMA and Conair recovered and recycled all production scrap at NPE2024.
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