October 2008 Issue
October 2008
Features
Featured articles from the latest issue of Plastics Technology
Your Business Recycle Pricing - October 2008
Lower crude oil prices in recent weeks were expected to lead to lower virgin resin prices, which should bring down prices of recycled resins as well. But all bets are off until the damage from Hurricane Ike can be assessed.
Read MoreNovel Ejector System Eliminates Plates and Pins
Injection mold cost savings, greater molding productivity, and better part quality are promised for a new ejection system that does away with conventional ejector plates, housings, pins, and risers. This approach is said to reduce mold height, shorten mold-open times by at least 10%, enable better optimization of mold cooling—not to mention eliminating ejector marks on parts.
Read MoreYour Business In Brief - October 2008
First Car with 100% Paint-Film-Decorated Thermoplastic ExteriorWhat is purported to be the world’s first vehicle featuring a Class-A exterior produced entirely of thermoformed plastics with a laminated paint-film decorative surface will also be the first vehicle designed specifically for law enforcement.
Read MoreWind Power Blades Energize Composites Manufacturing
The world’s growing appetite for wind energy is transforming wind blades into one of the hottest composite applications around. The huge build-up of wind-power generating capacity—particularly in the U.S, China, and Spain—has raised a bumper crop of new plants for manufacturing these composite parts.
Read MoreHigh-Speed Extrusion: Are You Ready for the Fast Lane?
Around three dozen, mostly European, processors are pushing commercial development of high-speed single-screw extrusion. They have installed more than 100 of the small hyper-drive machines whose screws turn at up to 1500 rpm, about eight to 10 times faster than standard extruders. At least two German machine builders are working on machines that will go to 2000 rpm and even higher. The goal is to raise output without increasing extruder size.
Read MoreYour Business Outlook - October 2008
Like all segments of the U.S. residential building materials market, production of rigid PVC fence and decking products is down from last year’s level.
Read MoreNovel Liquid Modifiers for Polyolefins Have Multiple Functions
A family of liquid polymer modifiers with a proven track record in EPDM compounds has been expanded for use in a broad range of polyolefins.
Read MoreCleaning Molds in the Press Slashes Downtime
For a global electronics manufacturer with around-the-clock production, the ability to clean molds in the press without disassembly provided major productivity increases.
Read MoreYour Business Pricing Update - October 2008
At press time in mid-October, the impact of Hurricane Ike on Gulf Coast refineries and resin plants was still being assessed.
Read MoreThermoset Molder Closes the Loop On Mold Temperature Control
Vernay Laboratories Inc. of Yellow Springs, Ohio, is a major producer of precision rubber fluid-control components at four plants in the U.S. and Europe. “In rubber molding, the temperature of the mold is the heart of the process, so maintaining a uniform thermal profile across the tool is vital,” says Ankur Maheshwari, program manager at the Griffin, Ga., plant, Vernay’s biggest in North America.The company was having a big problem controlling temperature uniformity in production of a special gasket seal used in printer cartridges.
Read MoreFind Those ‘Hidden Costs’ And Do Something About Them
The lead-off speaker at our Processing Conference & Workshop in Chicago at the end of this month asks an important question: “What is your old auxiliary equipment costing you?” In other words, what is it costing you not to replace it?
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