best practices

best practices

Tunnel Gates for Mold Designers, Part 1

Of all the gate types, tunnel gates are the most misunderstood. Here’s what you need to know to choose the best design for your application.

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The Effects of Temperature

The polymers we work with follow the same principles as the body: the hotter the environment becomes, the less performance we can expect.

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best practices

Stop Controlling Your Injection Molding Process with Machine-Only Settings

Monitor and record process outputs instead of the machine setpoints to ensure a validated process regardless of any machine deterioration, viscosity changes or other alterations.

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How to Stop Flash

Flashing of a part can occur for several reasons—from variations in the process or material to tooling trouble.

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pet

Solve Four Common Problems in PET Stretch-Blow Molding

Here’s a quick guide to fixing four nettlesome problems in processing PET bottles.

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Improve The Cooling Performance Of Your Molds

Need to figure out your mold-cooling energy requirements for the various polymers you run? What about sizing cooling circuits so they provide adequate cooling capacity? Learn the tricks of the trade here.

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best practices

Cooling the Feed Throat and Screw: How Much Water Do You Need?

It’s one of the biggest quandaries in extrusion, as there is little or nothing published to give operators some guidance. So let’s try to shed some light on this trial-and-error process.

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A Simpler Way to Calculate Shot Size vs. Barrel Capacity

Let’s take another look at this seemingly dull but oh-so-crucial topic.

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Packaging

Formulating LLDPE/LDPE Blends For Abuse–Resistant Blown Film

A new study shows how the type and amount of LDPE in blends with LLDPE affect the processing and strength/toughness properties of blown film. Data are shown for both LDPE-rich and LLDPE-rich blends.

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How to Get Rid of Bubbles in Injection Molding

First find out if they are the result of trapped gas or a vacuum void. Then follow these steps to get rid of them.

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Inspect 100% of your plastics inline.
Dover Clear
Vacuum conveying powders to extruders compounding
New Tinius Olsen VectorExtensometer testing
Special steels for reinforced plastics
Shell Polymers (Real)ationships start here ad
ArburgXworld
Go Beyond Blending
Konica Minolta Spectrophotometer CM-36dG