March 2006 Issue
March 2006
Features
Featured articles from the latest issue of Plastics Technology
Microlayer Films: New Uses for Hundreds of Layers
Early microlayer films gave an iridescent shimmer to decorative packaging. The newest films with hundreds and even thousands of layers are designed for gas barrier, uv blocking, electronic displays, and high-strength window-glass laminates. As applications grow, more processors want in on the action.
Read MoreAll-Electric Presses Get Direct-Drive Upgrade
The Elma all-electric machine series from Negri Bossi USA, Newark, Del., has been renamed and upgraded for faster injection, more precise and repeatable movements, and reduced maintenance.
Read MoreThe Cheapest Place To Process Plastics
If you’re looking to site a plant where operating costs are low, you can’t do better than the Fayetteville/Rogers, Ark., metropolitan area with close runners-up being Little Rock/North Little Rock, Ark., and Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Read MoreSmart Handling of Regrind Can Improve Your Bottom Line
Dealing effectively with regrind has been a tough challenge for most blow molders ever since the process was invented.
Read MoreMaterial Handling and Drying Are a Molder's 'Central' Issue
The benefits of centralized material handling have been demonstrated for decades, yet somehow the message continues to come slowly to mid-size processors like Jackson Products Inc of St.
Read MorePricing Update - March 2006
PE, PS, and PVC prices remained flat or softened further in February, aided by slack demand and lower feedstock costs.
Read MoreMake Polycarbonate Flow Easily Without Losing Toughness or Clarity
Here’s a whole new way to boost the flow of polycarbonate without the drawbacks of other flow modifiers.
Read MoreGear Molding: Where It's Headed
Plastic gears are growing larger, more precise, more complex in geometry, and more powerful. High-performance resins and long-fiber compounds are aiding this evolution.
Read MoreRecycled Prices Soften
Virgin resin prices started to soften at the end of 2005, and recycled resin prices have followed suit. Most reprocessors believe the big price hikes of the last couple of years have probably ended, but prices still are likely to rebound by April, since demand for many materials increases in the spring and summer.
Read MoreBlade System Puts Ribs Into Structural Blow Molded Parts
A novel blow molding process incorporates movable blades within the tool to create a ribbed structure for load-bearing automotive parts.
Read MoreYour Business in Brief - March 2006
New Firm Gets Ticona’s Topas COCTopas Advanced Polymers (TAP) is a new joint venture that has acquired the Topas cyclic-olefin copolymer (COC) business of Ticona.
Read MorePolyurethane Composites: New Alternative to Polyester and Vinyl Ester
High toughness, fast cure, and no styrene fumes are taking urethane composites beyond SRIM into pultrusion, filament winding, vacuum infusion, and spray-up.
Read MoreConstruction Markets Forecast
There is general agreement amongst economists that the residential construction and real estate sectors in the U.S. will "cool off" this year.
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