Polymer Processing (CH-511)

Learning Outcome

Develop an appreciation of the extrusion technology

and mechanics of melt preparation.

Reading List:
Plastics Engineering: R.J. Crawford Pergamon, 1981
Plastics Material & Processing : A.B Strong,
Modern Plastic Handbook: Charles A. Harper

Extrusion
Extrusion is a process in which solid thermoplastic material is
melted and forced through an orifice (Die) of desired shape and
then cooled.

Extruded products:
Sheet
Film
Tube
Profile (e.g. PVC window frames)
Cable coating

Process based upon screw extrusion:

Injection

moulding
Injection blow moulding
Extrusion blow moulding

This section covers the basics of extrusion. There are many

products made via extrusion and most of them involve
machinery for melting the plastic (an extruder) and the means to
shape the plastic melt (a die).
So the processing steps involved in extrusion are :
Feeding (Add the resin).

Melting ( add heat to the polymer).

Pumping (transport of the melt).
This can be accomplished by generating melt at a high pressure
or by using an actual pump (like a gear pump)
Forming ( shaping the melt ).
Cooling (remove excess heat so that the material becomes
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rigid and retains its shape ).

Sketch of Extrusion Line

Thus the function of the extruder is to :

- melt the plastic
- pump the plastic

Types Of Extruder
1. Single Screw Extruder.

2. Twin Screw Extruder.

Single Screw Extruder

A single-screw extruder consists of a screw in a metal cylinder or
barrel. One end of the barrel is attached to the feed throat while
the other end is open.

Parts Of an Extruder

A. Screw
B. Barrel
C. Heater

D. Thermocouple
E. Feed Throat
F. Hopper
G. Thrust bearing
H. Gear reducer
I. Motor

Parts Of an Extruder
Hopper for feeding in materials.
A barrel assembly (usually steel)
With a screw inside (used to push the plastic down the barrel, this
also generates the melt pressure)
A heating system consisting of
- Electric band heaters
- Thermocouples to monitor barrel temperatures
A drive system for the screw
- Electric motor
- Gear reducing assembly
A die for shaping the product
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Feeding System
Resin is usually fed into a hopper, a large funnel shaped
container which sits on top of the extruder.

Resin flows into the extruder by gravity but feed screws

can be used to control the flow rate of resin into the
system.
Sometimes there are screen or magnets in the hopper to
remove metals and other contaminants.
Vibration of the hopper walls can be used to prevent solid
bridging in the throat (the smallest section) of the hopper.

Heating and Cooling System

Hopper / throat area is cooled to prevent material from
becoming sticky and blocking the channel before the material
feeds into the screw.
There are usually 3 to 5 heating zones along the barrel.
Electric heaters are important for startup but after the process
is running, heat generated by friction of the melt in the barrel
supplies most of the heat (80% to 90%).
It is important to control the melt temperature for the following
reasons :
Avoid thermal degradation
Too high a temperature may make post extrusion processing
difficult
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Extrusion Screws

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Screw Design

Very small clearance between the screw flight and barrel.

Depth of flow channel usually small compared to the screw

diameter.
Depth may vary along the channel.
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Screw Design

Barrel
Metering
Feed
Screw root

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Analysis of Extruder Behavior

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Solid Bed
Mostly solid pellets.
Friction between the pellets and barrel causes some pellets
to melt and form a film.
When enough has melted, we start to see the formation of
a melt pool.

Melting
Solid particles form a solid plug which spirals along the screw
Melting occurs at the interface between solid and melt film
Melt is pushed against back flight

Inefficient melting can cause solid bed break-up

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Metering
Occurs along last few screw diameters.
All polymer should be molten.

Needs to provide stable flow to die.

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Forming
Die forms the shape of the extrudate.
Exit region called the land region.

Distributes flow exiting with uniform velocity.

Breaker plates + filters often used at die inlet.
Should allow for die swell.
Dies can be very complex (e.g. profile, spiral mandrel).
Co-extrusion dies for multiple layers.

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The Single Screw Plasticating

Extruder

Pellets, powders or flakes are drawn by gravity from a hopper to

the gap between a rotating screw and a heated barrel. They are
transported forward, compacted, melted and pumped through a
die where the melt is shaped prior to solidification by cooling.

Extruder Screw:
The Extruder Screw has several important functions to perform
1. Conveying the resin to the extruder.
2. Mixing and melting the ingredient.
3. Building pressure in the screw so that the molten resin will be
pushed through the die.

L/D Ratio:
An important parameter associated with the screw. It is the ratio of
length of flighted portion of the screw to inside diameter of the barrel
or outside diameter of the screw flights.

Breaker Plate:
Breaker plate acts as seal between Extruder barrel and the die, it
prevent leakage of the melt.
They are fitted to support
1. Support screen pack
2. Create back pressure in the extruder.
3. Converts the rotational motion of the melt to axial motion
4. Filter foreign particles from the material.

Types of Breaker Plate

1.
2.

Sliding plate.
Auto screen and rotary screen changer.

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Breaker Plate:
A sliding-plate screen changer has two breaker plates mounted on
a support plate; a similar screen changer uses cartridge filters in
place of the breaker plates. The breaker plates are manually or
hydraulically switched when the pressure drop across the breaker
plate exceeds a preset value. Then the dirty breaker plate and
screens are replaced.

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In an auto screen system, a steel screen is held against a fixed

breaker plate. When the pressure drop exceeds the preset value,
heaters melt the polymer at the dirty end of the screen and the
screen, which is under tension, advances. With a clean screen in
the melt stream, the heaters turn off and the polymer at the dirty
end of the screen solidifies, preventing further screen movement.

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In the rotary screen is a wheel containing a series of crescent

shaped breaker plates. The wheel is moved in response to preset
pressure limits and dirty breaker plates are replaced by fresh ones.

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DIE:
Die is a melt flow channel or restriction. It is located at the other
end of the screw, so that the screw out put can be passed through
it. It is used to achieve specific cross sectional shape from polymer
melt.

TYPES OF DIE:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Spider Mandrel Die

T-Die
Fish Tail Die
Coat hanger die

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Flow Behaviour of Polymer

In the metering zone of an extruder,

the polymer is usually

molten.
The rotating screw pushes the material along the walls of the
stationary barrel creating drag flow (QD). This drag flow provide
forward conveying action of the extruder in the absence of die
effectively the only flow.

The addition of the die restricts the open discharge at the end of
an extruder and produces large pressure gradient along the
extruder. Since the pressure is greatest just before the die , this
head pressure creates two other flows, Pressure Flow (QP) and
leakage Flow(QL). Since they both counter the forward motion of
the melt so pressure flow and leakage flow are often lumped
together as Back Flow.

SIZING UNIT:
Sizing unit determines the final dimension of the product. To assist
in defining the shape of the part during the cooling process, plates
or ring with holes of proper sizes and shapes can be placed inside
the cooling bath, so that the extrudate passing through them.

COOLING UNIT:
The cooler unit reduces the temperature of the hot extrudate to
allow it to solidify and retain its sized shape. A water bath or spray
at room temperature may be used.

Haul Off Unit:

The Job of the haul off unit is to pull the extrudate through the sizing
and cooling units and feed it to the cutter

Sizing and Hauloff Unit

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Pipe Extrusion Process

Twin Screw Extruder:

In Twin screw extruder the relative motion of the flight of one screw
inside the channel of other acts as paddle that pushes the material from
screw to screw and from flight to flight
There are two different patterns for intermeshing. In one pattern the
screw rotates in the same direction i.e. both turn clockwise or both turn
counter clock wise. This pattern is called co-rotating .

In the other intermeshing pattern the screw rotates counter to each

other i.e. one rotates clock wise and other rotates counter clock wise.
This pattern is called counter rotating.
Twin screw extruder have more positive pumping action than single
screw extruder and can be used more effectively in high output
situation.

Wire Coating
In wire coating metal wire is covered with plastic insulation.

This process requires a pay-off (input) drum, input capstan, preheater,

extruder, cross-head or offset die, cooling trough, spark tester, diameter and
eccentricity gauges, output capstan, and wind-up drum.
The pay-off drum and input capstan unwind wire at high speeds and
provide constant speed and tension.
In the preheating station, a gas burner or electrical resistance heater
preheats the wire to improve adhesion, reduce plastic shrinkage, and
remove any moisture or wiredrawing lubricant from the wire. As the wire
passes through the die, it is coated with polymer melt.
The coated wire is cooled in a series of water baths and then the coating
is measured and tested prior to being wound up on the wind-up drum.

Melt Fracture:
Extrusion is essentially the process in which a plastic wire or sheet is
made by pumping a polymer melt through a pipe or slit, and having it
solidify.

One of the basic problems that polymer industry is facing since long
is that when the polymer exits too fast from an extruder, the surface
starts to exhibits irregularities.
For slow flow rates ,the flow is smooth, As soon as the flow rate
increases the irregularities progressively get stronger.. At even higher
flow rates, the distortions can become so severe that they cause the
extrudate to break --- hence the name melt fracture.

Five pictures of a of molten polyethylene flowing out of a pipe, visible at the top.
The flow rate increases from left to right. Note that in the two leftmost
photographs the extrudates are nice and smooth, while in the middle one
irregularities start to develop. As the flow rate increases even further towards
the right, the amplitude of the irregularities gets stronger. When the flow rate is
enhanced even more, the extrudate can break. Hence the name melt fracture

Die Swell:
Die Swell occurs when an extrudate has larger diameter than the die. It
is caused by the releases of stresses in the extrudate leaving a
contraction the extrudate remembers its original shape and attempts to
return to it. Die Swell can result in an extrudate with several time the
diameter of the die, depending on the process and condition.

Calendering:
In the calendering process the extrude is extruded directly into the nip
area between two rolls. The gap between these two rolls is small and
therefore the plastic material builds a small pool of material, this pool of
material is called extrudate bank.
The rolls have small gap between them and the plastic is forced through
this gap by the counter rotation of the rolls. The gap sets the initial
thickness of the sheet material.
The stack roll define the thickness of the film and sheet by adjusting the
gap and relative rotational speed.
These films and sheets pass through cooling rollers to set the final
dimension of the part.
Finally the material moves to a take off station usually roll up.

Types Of Rollers

FType
I-Type

InvertedType

LType

ZType