Polymer Processing

Calendering

Feedstock is passed through a series of rolls to reduce thickness to

desired gage
 Expensive equipment, high production rates
 Process is noted for good surface finish and high gage accuracy
 Typical materials: rubber or rubbery thermoplastics such as
plasticized PVC
 Products: PVC floor covering, shower curtains, vinyl table cloths, pool
liners, and inflatable boats and toys
Calendaring

A typical roll configuration in calendaring

Calendering
 Fiber and Filament Products

 Definitions:
 Fiber - a long, thin strand whose length is at least
100 times its cross-section
 Filament - a fiber of continuous length
 Applications:
 Fibers and filaments for textiles
 Most important application
 Reinforcing materials in polymer composites
 Growing application, but still small compared
to textiles
 Materials for Fibers and
Filaments

Fibers can be natural or synthetic

 Natural fibers constitute ~ 25% of total market

 Cotton is by far the most important staple

 Wool production is significantly less than
cotton
 Synthetic fibers constitute ~ 75% of total fiber market

 Polyester is the most important

 Others: nylon, acrylics, and rayon
 Fiber and Filament Production -
Spinning
For synthetic fibers, spinning = extrusion of polymer melt or solution
through a spinneret, then drawing and winding onto a bobbin
 Spinneret = die with multiple small holes
 The term is a holdover from methods used to draw and twist natural
fibers into yarn or thread
 Three variations, depending on polymer :

1. Melt spinning
2. Dry spinning
3. Wet spinning
 Melt Spinning

Starting polymer is heated to molten state and

pumped through spinneret
 Typical spinneret is 6 mm (0.25 in) thick and
contains approximately 50 holes of diameter 0.25
mm (0.010 in)
 Filaments are drawn and air cooled before being
spooled onto bobbin
 Significant extension and thinning of filaments
occur while polymer is still molten, so final diameter
wound onto bobbin may be only 1/10 of extruded
size
 Used for polyester and nylon filaments
 Melt Spinning

Melt spinning
of
continuous
filaments
 Dry Spinning

Similar to melt spinning, but starting polymer is

in solution and solvent can be separated by
evaporation
 First step is extrusion through spinneret
 Extrudate is pulled through a heated
chamber which removes the solvent,
leaving the polymer
 Used for filaments of cellulose acetate and
acrylics
 Wet Spinning

Similar to melt spinning, but polymer is again

in solution, only solvent is non-volatile
 To separate polymer, extrudate is passed
through a liquid chemical that coagulates
or precipitates the polymer into coherent
strands which are then collected onto
bobbins
 Used to produce filaments of rayon
(regenerated cellulose)
 Subsequent Processing of
Filaments

 Filaments produced by any of the three processes are usually

subjected to further cold drawing to align crystal structure
along direction of filament axis

 Extensions of 2 to 8 are typical

 Effectis to significantly increase tensile
strength
 Drawing is done by pulling filament
between two spools, where winding spool
is driven at a faster speed than unwinding
spool
 Injection Molding

Polymer is heated to a highly plastic state and forced

to flow under high pressure into a mold cavity
where it solidifies and the molding is then removed
from cavity
 Produces discrete components almost always to
net shape
 Typical cycle time 10 to 30 sec, but cycles of one
minute or more are not uncommon
 Mold may contain multiple cavities, so multiple
moldings are produced each cycle
 Injection Molded Parts

 Complex and intricate shapes are possible

 Shape limitations:

 Capability to fabricate a mold whose cavity is

the same geometry as part
 Shape must allow for part removal from mold
 Part size from  50 g (2 oz) up to  25 kg (more than 50 lb), e.g.,
automobile bumpers
 Injection molding is economical only for large production quantities
due to high cost of mold
 Polymers for Injection Molding

 Injection molding is the most widely used molding

process for thermoplastics
 Some thermosets and elastomers are injection
molded
Modifications in equipment and
operating parameters must be
made to avoid premature
cross-linking of these materials
before injection
 Injection Molding Machine

Two principal components:

1. Injection unit
 Melts and delivers polymer melt
 Operates much like an extruder
2. Clamping unit
 Opens and closes mold each
injection cycle
Injection Molding Machine

A large (3000 ton capacity) injection molding

machine (Photo courtesy of Cincinnati Milacron).
Injection Molding Machine

Diagram of an injection molding machine, reciprocating

screw type (some mechanical details are simplified).
 Injection Unit of Molding
Machine
Consists of barrel fed from one end by a hopper containing supply of
plastic pellets
 Inside the barrel is a screw which:

1. Rotates for mixing and heating polymer

2. Acts as a ram (i.e., plunger) to inject molten
plastic into mold
 Non-return valve near tip of screw prevents
melt flowing backward along screw threads
 Later in molding cycle ram retracts to its
former position
 Clamping Unit of Molding
Machine

 Functions:

1. Holds two halves of mold in proper alignment

with each other
2. Keeps mold closed during injection by applying
a clamping force sufficient to resist injection
force
3. Opens and closes mold at the appropriate
times in molding cycle
Injection Molding Cycle

Typical molding cycle: (1) mold is closed

Injection Molding Cycle

Typical molding cycle: (2) melt is injected into cavity.

Injection Molding Cycle

Typical molding cycle: (3) screw is retracted.

Injection Molding Cycle

Typical molding cycle: (4) mold opens and part is

ejected.
 Injection Molding Cycle

Injection molding involves two basic steps:

 Melt generation by a rotating screw
 Forward movement of the screw to fill the mold with melt and to maintain the injected melt
under high pressure

Injection molding is a “cyclic” process:

 Injection: The polymer is injected into the mold cavity.
 Hold on time: Once the cavity is filled, a holding pressure is maintained to
compensate for material shrinkage.
 Cooling: The molding cools and solidifies.
 Screw-back: At the same time, the screw retracts and turns, feeding the next shot in
towards the front
 Mold opening: Once the part is sufficiently cool, the mold opens and the part is
ejected
 The mold closes and clamps in preparation for another cycle.
 Injection Molding Cycle

➢ The total cycle time is:

tcycle= tclosing+ tcooling+ tejection.
Products Made by Injection Molding

(a) (b)

Typical products made by injection molding, including examples of insert molding.

 Mold Features for Injection Molding

Illustration of mold features for injection molding. (a) Two-plate mold with important features identified. (b) Four
parts showing details and the volume of material involved.
 The Mold

 The special tool in injection molding

 Custom-designed and fabricated for the part to be produced
 When production run is finished, the mold is replaced with a new
mold for the next part
 Various types of mold for injection molding:

 Two-plate mold
 Three-plate mold
 Hot-runner mold
Two-Plate Mold

Details of a two-plate mold for thermoplastic injection

molding: (a) closed. Mold has two cavities to produce two
cup-shaped parts with each injection shot.
Two-Plate Mold

Details of a two-plate mold for thermoplastic

injection molding: (b) open
 Two-Plate Mold Features

 Cavity – geometry of part but slightly oversized to allow for shrinkage

 Created by machining of mating surfaces of two

mold halves
 Distribution channel through which polymer melt flows from nozzle
into mold cavity

 Sprue - leads from nozzle into mold

 Runners - lead from sprue to cavity (or cavities)
 Gates - constrict flow of plastic into cavity
 More Two-Plate Mold Features

 Ejection system – to eject molded part from cavity at end of

molding cycle

 Ejector
pins built into moving half of mold usually
accomplish this function
 Cooling system - consists of external pump connected to
passageways in mold, through which water is circulated to remove
heat from the hot plastic
 Air vents – to permit evacuation of air from cavity as polymer melt
rushes in
 Three-Plate Mold

Uses three plates to separate parts from sprue and runner when mold
opens
 Advantages over two-plate mold:

 As mold opens, runner and parts disconnect and

drop into two containers under mold
 Allows automatic operation of molding machine
 Hot-Runner Mold

 Eliminates solidification of sprue and runner by locating heaters

around the corresponding runner channels
 While plastic in mold cavity solidifies, material in sprue and runner
channels remains molten, ready to be injected into cavity in next
cycle
 Advantage:

 Saves material that otherwise would be scrap in

the unit operation
 Injection Molding Machines

 Injection molding machines differ in both injection unit and

clamping unit
 Name of injection molding machine is based on the type of injection
unit used

 Reciprocating-screw injection molding machine

 Plunger-type injection molding machine
 Several clamping designs

 Mechanical (toggle)
 Hydraulic
 Part Shrinkage

Reduction in linear size during cooling from molding to room

temperature
 Polymers have high thermal expansion coefficients, so significant
shrinkage occurs during solidification and cooling in mold
 Typical shrinkage values:
Plastic Shrinkage, mm/mm (in/in)
Nylon-6,6 0.020
Polyethylene 0.025
Polystyrene 0.004
PVC 0.005
 Compensation for Shrinkage

 Dimensions of mold cavity must be larger than specified part

dimensions:

Dc = Dp + D p S + Dp S 2
where Dc = dimension of cavity; Dp = molded
part dimension, and S = shrinkage value
 Third term on right hand side corrects for
shrinkage in the shrinkage
 Shrinkage Factors

 Fillers in the plastic tend to reduce shrinkage

 Injection pressure – higher pressures force more material into mold
cavity to reduce shrinkage
 Compaction time - similar effect – longer time forces more material
into cavity to reduce shrinkage
 Molding temperature - higher temperatures lower polymer melt
viscosity, allowing more material to be packed into mold to reduce
shrinkage
 Blow Molding

 A quick walk through a supermarket provides convincing proof of

the economic importance of plastic bottles.
 They are nearly all made by blow molding. In one form of this
process, extrusion blow molding.
 Blow Molding

 In one form of machine, the mold “shuttles” aside for blowing and
ejection as a new parison is being formed beneath the die.
 High-production rotary machines may have two parison heads and
index as many as 20 molds past them on a rotating table.
 Applications

 Large items such as drums (to replace the

familiar 55-gallon steel drum)
 Truck, automobile, and recreational-vehicle
gasoline tanks.
 In such metal replacement applications,
blow-molded containers offer light weight
and great design flexibility.
 Injection Blow Molding

 In injection blow molding, the parison is formed by injection molding

rather than extrusion.
 Stretch Blow Molding

 Before blowing the parison into the cavity, it can be mechanically stretched
to orient molecules axially.
 The subsequent blowing operation introduces tangential orientation.
 A container with biaxial molecular orientation exhibits higher optical (clarity)
and mechanical properties and lower permeability.