May 2000 Issue
May 2000
Features
Featured articles from the latest issue of Plastics Technology
Compounding
A radically different approach to in-line compounding of rigid PVC can replace a conventional batch mixer with a smaller, continuous, high-intensity mixing system.
Read MoreTeach Your Children Plastics
The surest way to alleviate the chemo-phobia that afflicts a large part of the public is through early education. By chemo-phobia I mean the predisposition to believe any scare story about hazards to health or the environment caused by the chemical industry or its products. Of course, those include plastics.
Read MoreInjection Molder Finds Big Opportunities in Micromolded Parts
Less than a single pellet's worth of resin is all one custom injection molder needs to produce micro-sized precision parts with undercuts, ribs, hinges, or inserts. These minuscule parts must be held to tolerances of ±0.0005 in. with CpK's of 1.3 or better, which means no more than about six defects in 100,000 parts.
Read MoreYour Business in Brief - May 2000
DuPont to Boost TiO2 CapacityDuPont Co., Wilmington, Del., will start up a third titanium dioxide pigment line at New Johnsonville, Tenn., in the third quarter.
Read MoreNPE Newsfinder: Chemicals & Additives
Lots of new additive and color concentrates will be displayed at NPE 2000. There will also be new pigments, including some for laser marking. Several new processing aids and modifiers for thermoplastics and thermosets are slated to debut. Also look for new mold releases and a purging agent for optical disc resins. Interesting new fillers include a new electroconductive wollastonite and high-impact wollastonite grades for automotive applications.
Read MoreNPE Newsfinder: High Volume Thermoplastics
New octene and hexene LLDPEs, as well as HDPEs based on new metallocene and non-metallocene catalysts, will make their debut in Chicago next month. Among them will be the first metallocene HDPE film resin in North America.
Read MoreEngineering Thermoplastics
Expect to see numerous entries in automotive engineering thermoplastics at NPE, including a totally new amorphous thermoplastic that is said to provide a breakthrough in color and gloss retention outdoors without painting. Besides exterior body panels, new automotive materials for under-hood, interior, structural, and mechanical parts like gears will also be plentiful.
Read MoreFlatter Film Extrusion For the Win
When Charter Films began operations three years ago in Superior, Wis., its goal was to supply high-end converting markets in the region with blown films of better quality than those of much larger rivals.
Read MoreCompounding Close-Up
A radically different approach to in-line compounding of rigid PVC can replace a conventional batch mixer with a smaller, continuous, high-intensity mixing system. It requires dramatically less space, energy, and processing time. It greatly reduces capital cost for equipment and plant construction by eliminating the need for a mezzanine. And it also greatly reduces the heat history of the resin. It simplifies material handling, allows greater formulating flexibility, saves resin on color changes, and may need only one operator instead of two. It also lets processors add capacity easily, without the high fixed cost of batch mixers.
Read MoreNPE Newsfinder: Engineering Thermoplastics
Expect to see numerous entries in automotive engineering thermoplastics at NPE, including a totally new amorphous thermoplastic that is said to provide a breakthrough in color and gloss retention outdoors without painting. Besides exterior body panels, new automotive materials for under-hood, interior, structural, and mechanical parts like gears will also be plentiful.
Read MoreNew PET Reheat Machines Offer Higher Outputs, Faster Changeovers
What PET stretch-blow molding machine has the highest output per cavity today? Tetra Pak PET Packaging Systems North America, Schaumburg, Ill., claims that distinction for its new LX series reheat machines. These machines reportedly offer 20% higher throughput per cavity than the competition, as well as mold changeovers that are more than twice as fast. The firm also says the ratio of capital cost to output capacity is better for these machines than for competing units.
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