Events and Exhibitions
October 2008
Oct 7 - Oct 8, 2008
Wellcome Collection Conference Centre, London
European Plastics News
epnconferences@crain.com
Oct 7 - Oct 10, 2008
Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Exhibition Management Pty Limited
http://www.ausplas.com
Oct 14 - Oct 16, 2008
Binhai International Convention & Exhibition Center, Tianjin, China
Applas Co. Limited
Oct 14 - Oct 15, 2008
Krakow
Centre for Management Technology
leelin@cmtsp.com.sg
http://www.cmtevents.com/?ev=081042&st=46
Oct 21 - Oct 23, 2008
HIECC, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Bangkok Exhibition Services Ltd (BES) and Messe Dusseldorf Asia Pte Ltd
http://www.plasticsvietnam.com/plastic_rubber/2008/en/index.asp
November 2008
Nov 5 - Nov 6, 2008
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Marcus Evans
CatherineF@marcusevanskl.com
http://www.marcusevans.com/html/eventdetail.asp?eventID=14590&SectorID
Nov 12 - Nov 13, 2008
Laurel Manor, Livonia, Michigan, USA
Crain Communications Limited
araymond@crain.com
http://www.plasticsinautomotiveglazing.com/
Nov 17 - Nov 18, 2008
Swiss Hotel, Dusseldorf, Germany
European Plastics News
jnoakes@crain.com
http://www.inmoulddecorating.com/
Nov 19 - Nov 20, 2008
Shanghai
Centre for Management Technology
leelin@cmtsp.com.sg
http://www.cmtevents.com/?ev=081181&st=46
Nov 27 - Nov 30, 2008
Tüyap Fair, Convention and Congress Center, Beylikdüzü
Tüyap Fairs and Exhibitions Organisation Inc.
sales@tuyap.com.tr
http://www.plasteurasia.com/
December 2008
Dec 3 - Dec 6, 2008
Jakarta International Expo Kemayoran, Jakarta, Indonesia
PT Pamerindo Buana Abadi
http://www.allworldexhibitions.com/plastics/showview.asp?ID=1126
Dec 3 - Dec 4, 2008
Sofitel Hotel, Munich, Germany
Crain Communications
lmather@crain.com
http://www.bioplasticsconference.com/
LyondellBasell launches new HDPE Resins with Improved Resistance to Bio-diesel fuels
LyondellBasell Industries, one of the world’s largest polymers, petrochemicals and fuels companies, announced that it has commercialised a family of newly patented Lupolen high density polyethylene (HDPE) resins. These new HDPE resins offer improved resistance to bio-diesel and may therefore be of interest to manufacturers of automotive plastic fuel tanks. The resins are manufactured to meet the needs of the fuel tank producers facing bio-based product challenges, and are available for use in blow molding (Lupolen 4261 AG BD) and injection molding (Lupolen 4261A IM BD) processes. Thomas Lindner, Technical Manager of LyondellBasell’s Automotive Fluid Systems Business “With this new resin, we have improved chemical resistance that should allow manufacturers to produce fuel tanks that can accommodate fuels containing higher levels of bio-diesel.”
According to the company, Lupolen HDPE test data using blow molded and injection molded parts have shown a significant increase in chemical resistance to bio-diesel fuels compared to current HDPE grades on the market. After 1500 hours of contact with fuel consisting of 100 percent bio-diesel, the grade changed its intrinsic viscosity by 1.7 percent, which corresponds to a nearly thirty-fold improvement in resistance compared to standard HDPE grades previously used by customers in fuel tank applications.
Plunge Milling - for mold Making
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| Next time you have a huge mold cavity to create, consider nibbling around the edges rather than hogging it out entirely. You will save some time, and may even salvage some material for another job. Ask Randy Fields at Fremont Plastic Molds (Fremont, OH). He saved three hours apiece roughing big U-shapes into eight thick aluminum mold sections, and salvaged enough useable material from each section to make other mold parts as well. What used to take four hours now takes only 30 minutes—and stretches mold feedstock. The job is to cut a 42-inch long by 13-inch wide U-shape, clear through, into a 62 x 24 x 8-inch aluminum billet, and do it on a vertical mill. In the past, Fields did this type of job by ramp-milling the cavity with a button cutter at about 0.100 inches depth-of-cut. Four hours later with that process, he had a roughed-out mold section and a huge pile of chips. In another two hours of finish-milling, he had a completed piece—and still more chips.  . A plunge milling cutter in action on a deep cut. This technique can save time, and stretch material, on large cuts through thick sections. On horizontal cuts, Ingersoll application engineer Bob McAlindon, who noticed how long the job was taking, suggested stepping a plunge mill around the outline of the U-shape instead. "Plunge milling would complete the part faster, and chip evacuation wouldn't be a problem since it's a through-cut," McAlindon reasoned. "The chips would fall out of the bottom. And when we cut just around the outline, we salvage a good chunk of useable metal in the middle. We excise the center portion rather than pulverizing it." Plunge Right In Even with the long tool overhang on the light-duty machine, the demo went fine. No chatter, no vibration. And when the cut was done, Fremont wound up with an 8" x 38" piece of perfectly useable leftovers. Plunge milling the outline this way created a scalloped edge, which was then finished in two hours—the same as before—with the same tool and stepover decreased to 0.025 in. The total time was 2:30 vs. 5:30. Based on that demo, Fields became a believer and Fremont adopted the method. They ordered two of the plunge cutters and called their programming house MasterCam to update the process commands accordingly. Feeding Faster  The principle of operation for plunge cutting the U-shaped openings at Fremont. Drive the mill through the material in a succession of cuts to create the path, and then run a finishing pass. Besides being much faster than hogging with a ball mill, the technique leaves a useable piece of material. As it turns out, Fremont has a call for the Z-plunge method about once a month on average, and expects to save about $12,000 a year given their current workload. "Z-plunge milling isn't for every big-cavity job here, because all of our mills are verticals," explains Fields. "On a vertical machine, Z-plunge milling works only on through-cuts because of the chip clearance issue. If we had horizontal machines, the chips would fall out on their own. We could Z-plunge blind cavities too." Main Force on Strongest Axis The Ingersoll plunge cutter itself boasts a double positive presentation geometry that reduces cutting forces as the cutter rips through the metal. The cutter has five inserts, spaced so that they are never directly opposite each other, and thus not subject to pinching if used in a boring mode. Each insert has four cutting edges. Other shops report similar throughput improvements in steel molds. The limit for material removal stems more from horsepower limitations of the machine than load limits on the rugged cutter. Summary |
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Waterjet Cutting - for Mold Making,
We see it all around us every day. Manufacturing in the U.S. takes a beating with fingers pointing in all directions. Theories abound as to why it’s getting tougher to survive in business. Just recently, large domestic automobile manufacturers announced the elimination of 60,000 jobs in order to heal the bleeding and realign themselves with competition. To cap it all, finding good co-workers and employees who are committed and dedicated to a vision of growth and expansion, as opposed to having a job and coming to work, seem out of reach. So what is the answer and where do we turn?
The end users who demand lower prices, higher tolerances and quicker delivery on parts are the ones driving the forces of change. Not everyone is closing down. In fact, the opposite is occurring for some. Certain companies seem to be thriving as they grow, providing products and services while competitors grind to a halt. While some airlines are reporting profits and ordering more than 500 new jets, others are cutting back, laying off, grounding jets at airfields in the desert and reducing flights. But all airlines serve the same customers.
Logic says established businesses that have paid off their buildings and machines and have a workforce where the average employee has 10 to 20 years of service under their belt, are stable, strong and posses all the infrastructure to continue growing. Apparently not! It often seems the companies with everything going for them have become stagnant, complacent and fall the hardest.
We are no longer in a world where the traditional wins, where five-year projection plans survive and we all go home at night feeling secure in our future. Survival has become dependent on sideways thinking, a relentless pursuit of new ideas and creating a culture where people—from the shop floor to the receptionist—know that their input counts and is valued. Where freedom of thoughts, concepts, ideas, modifications, upgrades and processes are all focused on the ever-changing target ahead.
Waterjet: A Piece of the Survival Puzzle
And what on earth does all this have to do with waterjet cutting and moldmaking? Well, everything really. Waterjet may be one of the pieces of the puzzle that could allow your company to leap forward with minimal cost and gain huge returns. Waterjet might double the output of a shop without employing more people or buying any additional machinery, other than the waterjet. Waterjet could be something that allows your business to provide more product at a lower cost. Waterjet could be the one piece of equipment that turns your mold shop around and opens up the doors to increased production, efficiency and better utilization of existing equipment.
Dual head waterjet machine. Photos courtesy of WARDJet, Inc.
Where waterjets cannot hold tolerances to tenths of a thousand of an inch in 10-inch stainless steel or six-inch A2 tool steel, they do cut all the way through, pierce their own holes, and can certainly be used to get within acceptable tolerances for clearance holes and near-net-shape cutting.
Waterjets eliminate hours of hogging out material producing low value chips, and replace it with clean, through cuts with valuable drops that can be used for other projects. Waterjets can achieve tolerances up to +/- 0.005” on many materials thinner than say two inches, but the moldmaking industry typically works with thicker, heavier materials where it would not be wise to count on such tolerances.
Using a waterjet to do all preliminary cuts on a die or mold and get it to a point where only the final machining is required, frees up the high cost, high tolerance mill to be used for the purpose it was purchased and built—specifically the final high tolerance finishing of parts.
The combination of capabilities of a waterjet and mill could allow a dramatic increase in output and hence revenue. The same staff running the mills could be used to run the waterjet, and the same programmer can easily do all programming. It could be that the waterjet could prepare two to three molds ready for machining in the time it takes for the CNC mill to do the final machining of the part. If the mill time is simultaneously reduced substantially, and is used primarily for milling the finished tolerances, each mill could possibly increase its throughput several times.
A waterjet also can be a great tool for modifying molds and dies at a reduced cost. With the increased cost of materials, everyone is looking for ways to cut costs, and one is to reuse or modify an older die or mold.
Evaluating Waterjets
However, not all waterjets are created equal, and just as some manufacturers may be in danger of falling behind the car manufacturers and airlines, others are surging ahead with innovative options that are setting the pace for others to follow. A careful evaluation of the philosophy of the waterjet manufacturer is critical. You don’t want to be left with a machine that you should be happy with because the last 100 customers have not complained. Purchasing a machine that will grow, expand and has been configured to meet all sorts of new options—some of which may not even be in existence yet—is important.
Turns your mill into a waterjet cutting tool.
So let’s look at some of the innovative ideas that are on the horizon for waterjet that you need to be sure you are not about to miss out on.
Plate Alignment, Part and Program Rotation and Indexing
A waterjet—when mounted onto a system that allows options like plate alignment, part and program rotation, along with the ability to index the waterjet stream to within 0.001"—is a powerful tool. Not all waterjet systems have these features and instead force the operator to line the part up in the X or Y axis and then using an indicator to check alignment, limiting the ease of use of the waterjet.
Laser Pointers, Laser Projection and CCD Video Camera Sensing
Being able to use a laser or CCD video camera mounted onto the cutting head to sense or locate points on the part to be cut could be real time savers. Using lasers to indicate a start point is relatively old technology, but using a CCD video camera to trace the shape of a part, in effect acting as a large digitizer the size of the waterjet cutting table, is not commonly found on waterjets. To take things one step further, it is now possible to have the actual shape and toolpath projected onto the parts to be cut by mounting a laser above the waterjet.
It is believed that waterjet cutting is only beginning its debut, with unlimited possibilities on the horizon, and it looks like the prices of waterjets will be coming down in the future, making it possible for smaller shops to be able to access the technology. This is evident in some of the new waterjet systems out there. For example, one system makes it possible to place a small self-contained waterjet cutting tank on the bed of any CNC mill and within minutes use it as a waterjet cutting system. Then, when the waterjet cutting is complete, the mill can be used again for its original purpose.
Milling with Waterjet
The term waterjet machining is being used more nowadays as opposed to waterjet cutting. Along with this is the soon-to-be-used term waterjet milling. This has been demonstrated over the years and used in specific applications under controlled environments, but has not really been financially viable to date in a job shop environment. It is expected that milling will be released as an option on some machines this year, making machining of tough to work with materials a piece of cake.
Height sensors, programmable Z axis, remote access to controllers enabling diagnostics and upgrades of software, advanced abrasive delivery systems, monitored abrasive flow, pressure, cutting speeds, taper compensation for increased cutting speeds under certain circumstances, multiple head cutting, wireless hand-held pendants, feedback and monitoring of cut times, cut progress and interactive communication with operators, are but a few of the options that could make waterjet cutting something your shop needs to consider.
Machining with Advanced CO2 Machining Spray Technology
Carbon dioxide (gas, solid, liquid) as a machining fluid and its beneficial impact on machining operations with regards to both lubricating and cooling qualities has been studied for the past 60 years. One of the earliest documented metal cutting processes using a carbon dioxide spray is described by Thompson Products (later TRW) in the early 1950s.1 The literature contains several good examples of the benefits that can be realized with a CO2-based machining fluid.
With regards to tool wear, a reduction in CBN tool wear has been noted when CO2 gas is admitted to the atmosphere of the cutting zone, removing oxygen and reducing oxidation.2 With regards to tungsten carbide tool wear, it has been observed that liquid CO2 sprayed at base of carbide tool tip retards crater wear.3 In another investigation, it was observed that CO2 gas increases tool life by allowing a larger, protective BUE to form on HSS.4 Gases such as CO2 not only lubricate, but also cool. This point has been illustrated with cooled gases in many applications.5 For example, tool life increases when CO2 gas is cooled to -40° C to -60° C, even when cutting forces rise.6,7,8
Limitations and shortcomings associated with conventional carbon dioxide machining fluid sprays of the past include—among others—a lack of fluid compositional control, limited lubrication ability, lack of temperature and penetration control, and limited machine-tool adaptability. These issues are addressed with a new CO2 machining spray technology called advanced minimum quantity cooling lubrication.
Good Reasons to Change (or at least augment)
The past century has witnessed significant advancements in cutting machines, cutting tools, machine controls, processing materials and coolant-lubricant chemistries. However, surprisingly very little has changed with regards to the application of cooling lubrication. Current cooling lubricant application practices predominantly employ a flooding spray that is as old as the metalworking and machining industry itself. In the past, flooding may have been necessary to compensate for excessive heat generated due to the inferior performance of cutting methods, tools, machines and fluids. Today, more is better is not universally applicable to cutting fluids. In fact, for many operations flooding is wasteful, costly and may even be a detriment to the performance of advanced machining processes, materials and equipment.
The literature suggests that costs related to the use of flooded cooling lubricants can be between 7 and 17 percent of the total costs of the manufactured workpiece. Intangible costs to a business must also be considered. For example, cutting fluids, especially those containing petroleum oils, have become a huge liability. No matter how safe and environmentally-friendly a cutting fluid may be, governmental regulations demand special handling the moment it is poured into a sump.
If the past is an indication of the future, all metalworking fluids will become progressively more controlled and regulated in the years to come. In an increasingly competitive world, this means higher costs and a tougher business climate.
| Good Reasons to Change Productivity Impacts
Life-cycle Management Costs
Employee Hazards and Liability
Legislative Impacts
Figures courtesy of Cool Clean Technologies, Inc. |
Conventional Coolants and Lubrication
Literally thousands of different cooling lubrication formulations are available on the market for the many different types of machining processes, equipment, cutting tools and materials. Besides machinability issues related to cooling lubricants, selection factors include machine/tool compatibility, sump stability, foaming characteristics, filterability, toxicity, biodegradability, odor, misting, surface wetting, staining, surface cleanliness and disposal issues. Cooling lubrication formulations are tested and selected based on their ability to provide the best mix of all of these characteristics—the tradeoffs being between machining and non-machining performance characteristics.
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| Conventional Coolants and Lubricants |
Alternatives to current practices are getting more serious consideration in response to environmental and operational cost pressures. One attractive alternative is minimum quantity lubrication (MQL). The MQL approach uses a small amount of an oil of one type or another which is entrained as microscopic droplets in an airstream and delivered as a coherent dry (air only), near-dry and wet machining spray. Bio-based lubricating oils derived from soybeans or other vegetable products also are being used successfully with MQL. Natural oils have numerous MQL advantages, including a polar chemistry which reacts more favorably with metal surfaces, unsurpassed lubricity and an abundant U.S. agricultural growing capacity. MQL performance studies in machining processes such as milling, grinding and drilling show great promise; however, issues related to cutting zone penetration, tool adaptation and cooling capacity continue to be barriers to widespread adoption of MQL.
Advanced Minimum Quantity Cooling Lubrication
A new cooling lubrication technology has been developed, called advanced minimum quantity cooling lubrication (AMQCL), which employs simple but powerful physics and engineering princi-ples to provide a superior ability to penetrate, cool, clean and lubricate a cutting zone. It resolves many of the limitations found in conventional and more advanced cooling alternatives such as conventional LN2 and CO2 machining sprays.
Spray Applicator
The foundation for AMQCL is “hybridization”. The beneficial physicochemical machining actions and benefits provided by MQL, cool gas, solid coolants and various lubricant chemistries are combined in a distinct process. As a result, AMQCL can be implemented alongside many older and newer metalworking machinery, tools and fluids, augmenting a successful conversion to cleaner and leaner machining operations.
AMQCL employs a unique and beneficial combination of technologies:
- Minimum amounts of carbonated coolants and lubricants
- Coanda effect for additive injection and spray trajectory control
- Precise machining spray temperature control
- Precise cooling lubrication composition control
- Electrostatic charging of cooling lubrication compositions for improved droplet formation and cutting zone deposition
- Pressure and flow control for enhanced penetration, flushing and lubricant deposition
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| Spray Composition |
The system combines a source of propellant gas (i.e., compressed air), lubrication additives (i.e., soy oil) and solid and/or gaseous CO2 (i.e., coolant) in various concentrations to form an infinitely adjustable cooling lubricant spray. The system also employs a novel Coanda-coaxial injector and spray applicator.
The applicator employs a passive electrostatic charging mechanism to enhance droplet uniformity, spray force and machined surface deposition. Alterna-tively, an active electrostatic charging system may be employed to provide combination spray charging capability.
The AMQCL system is interfaced both mechanically and electronically with a machining operation. A benefit of a composite CO2 machining spray, and unlike conventional CO2 machining sprays, is that dilute mixtures containing solid coolant particles and subcooled lubricants more easily penetrate microscopic cutting interfaces. Concentrated particle streams tend to “pack” the interface during impact, which prevents the efficient flow of lubricants and coolant particles deep into the cut zone.
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| Penetration Power |
Unique Chemistry and Control
AMQCL spray chemistries combine several chemical and physical cooling and lubrication ingredients and are formed and delivered on-the-fly. The sprays are infinitely adjustable and may include liquids, extreme pressure solid additives and reactive gases that are combined with a propellant gas and injected into a metered flow of charged CO2 gas-solid aerosol. Each ingredient contributes a specific physical and/or chemical dimension—including cooling capacity, penetration power, boundary layer reactivity, lubricity, viscosity, spray particle size and density. AMQCL sprays have variable geometry including adjustable cooling lubricant characteristic from dry to wet composition, room temperature to near-cryogenic temperature, and spray pressures ranging from 10 psi to 150 psi, or much higher, if desired.
The Many Faces of CO2 CO2 exhibits unusual and synergistic cleaning and treatment behaviors depending upon different and purposely imposed stresses, for example certain conditions of pressure and temperature, co-solvency and in the presence of strong electromagnetic energy fields. When cooled into a solid phase and projected at a surface, CO2 is able to remove trace organic contaminations through complexation with thin film hydrocarbon layers as well as through physical ablation of particles, fibers and other surface residues. When CO2 is compressed into a liquid phase and contacted with a surface, CO2 is able to penetrate complex topography and pores to dissolve and extract organic compounds. CO2 excited in a strong electromagnetic field transitions into a plasma state, which provides a complex mixture of ions, electrons, oxygen radicals, ozone, UV light and heat—all of which work together to clean and etch the microscopic bondline surfaces. Moreover, CO2 dissociates to form organic functional groups such as carboxyl and carbonyl, which bond with the surface during treatment to form powerful chemical anchors for adhesives. With trace amounts of water vapor always present in both the CO2 supply and atmosphere surrounding a surface treatment zone, carboxylic and hydroxyl functional groups also are produced. |
Unlike simple atmospheric gases like nitrogen and oxygen, CO2 exhibits very strong hydrocarbon solubility. CO2 gas exhibits >600 percent higher solubility in oils as compared to compressed air. Due to this unique physicochemical properties and cohesion energy, CO2 gas modifies lubricant and coolant additive properties to produce mixtures having lower surface tension and lower viscosity, which aids in penetration into chip/tool capillary interfaces. Moreover, CO2 itself behaves as a reactive boundary layer lubricant—forming carboxylic acid functional groups during tribochemical reactions.
AMQCL technology provides infinitely adjustable cooling-lubricant compositions of CO2 coolant, propellant gases and minimum quantities of any type of lubrication additive(s). Adjustable spray pressure, temperature, coolant particle size and lubricant additive concentration allow a machinist to customize a cooling lubricant composition for any application. One or more individually controllable and flexible Coanda or coaxial spray applicators may be employed to provide optimum cooling, lubricating and cleaning actions.
Managing Heat
Machining heat is generated in three ways:
- The deformation of the material (metal, plastic, ceramic, composite) in the shear zone ahead of the cutting edge.
- The point of separation when the material is physically pulled apart.
- The friction of the chip as it contacts the surface of the tool edge as it is pushed out of the way.
AMQCL helps control machining heat by providing both physical and chemical cooling and lubrication effects. Frictional heat generated at the cutting edge is eliminated through the delivery of reactive lubricants (chemical effect)—including carbon dioxide gas, which produces beneficial tribochemical reactions. The majority of the machining heat produced by the deformation of the material itself is removed using adjustable spray compositions containing microscopic particles of solid carbon dioxide, which impact hot surfaces at high velocity and remove heat through a phase change (physical effect) phenomenon. Using a physicochemical approach, heat generation is controlled and heat is not allowed to accumulate in the tool or workpiece, which would cause temperatures to rise.
Better Quality Finish
Superior Penetration Power
The combination of sublimating solid coolant and subcooled lubricants (mass) with near-sonic air flow (velocity) creates significant penetration power (Force = mass x velocity), which allows the coolant and lubricant particles to penetrate deeply into a cutting zone. Particle velocities of between 50 m/s and 400 m/s are easily obtained with AMQCL. Upon entering the cutting zone, the cooling lubricant spray provides chip cooling and chip evacuation during sublimation or evaporation of the CO2. During expansion, electrostatically charged CO2 gas and lubricant uniformly coat the surfaces, penetrating cutting interfaces, and providing hydrodynamic and boundary layer lubrication. Very high penetration power can be produced using the unique AMQCL spray composition as compared to conventional high pressure flooding techniques. For example, microscopic particle-fluid impact stresses of over 8,000 psi are easily achieved with this technology.
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| Performance Testing |
Cutting Performance
In a standardized cutting test performed by an independent laboratory (TechSolve, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH), AMQCL (using a bio-based oil additive) outperformed conventional flood processes, including best-in-class synthetic oils, soluble oil and semi-synthetic with EP—in terms of both uniform tool wear and cutting force.
Moreover, a recent hard turning field demonstration illustrated how the AMQCL process changes the established paradigm in the hard machining. Compared to dry turning, an AMQCL composite spray improved PCD-coated carbide insert life by greater than 10x with 2x deeper cutting, and resulted in a better surface finish. This is a machining process thought to be best performed under “dry” (i.e., no coolant) conditions.
Advantages for Tool, Die and Moldmakers
AMQCL offers multiple technical advantages and opportunities for tool, die and moldmakers. These include, among several others, the following:
- Supercharge existing cutting fluids in minimum amounts with increased coolant power and cutting zone penetration
- Increase machining efficiency for harder and more abrasive materials
- Improve surface finish
- Test new advanced coolant-lubricant additive combinations in minimum quantities on-the-fly without having to change-out coolant sumps
- Optimize challenging machining processes with customized combinations of coolant, lubricant and advanced cutting tool coatings
Another advantage is that it is a very clean and lean technology. A clean and lean machining and metalworking approach is pollution prevention. Pollution prevention consists of any activity or strategy that eliminates or reduces the use of hazardous or toxic substances, conserves water or energy, and eliminates (or reduces) the generation of nonproductive outputs, hazardous wastes, air emissions, wastewater or other pollutants.
Wrap-Up
AMQCL technology can help businesses improve productivity while reducing operating costs and environmental pollution. It achieves this without compromising the selectivity, control and performance that they now enjoy with current metalworking fluid technology. The technology uniquely addresses the shortcomings of the cutting fluid alternatives while capturing all of their inherent benefits. AMQCL is applicable to metalworking and machining operations such as turning, milling, facing, threading, boring, grooving, grinding, dicing, and polishing, and more particularly, to a metalworking and machining operations at higher speeds.
AMQCL can be implemented alongside many older and newer machining and metalworking alternatives—including machinery, materials, methods, processes, cutting tools and fluids—augmenting a successful conversion to a clean and lean metalworking operation. Finally, for tool, die and moldmakers, AMQCL technology enables the use of advanced manufacturing materials, tools and machining techniques while providing clean and lean manufacturing benefits.
Medical, automotive, construction drive innovation in PC
Global demand for polycarbonate (PC) resin continues to grow strongly in the high teens, with consumption now approaching an annualized 3 million tonnes worldwide. This equates to approximately half the annual 6 million tonnes of global demand for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), with which PC is often compounded. Growth drivers for PC include automotive, construction, electronics and medical, and suppliers are targeting these segments with specialized grades to maximize performance.
In the medical segment, "The mere fact that our aging population will generate an increase in the demand for medical care, coupled with constant improvements to healthcare systems in developing countries, will contribute to increase demand for PC. In addition, new fields of application for polycarbonates are now emerging from areas such as genetics and biotechnology and from innovative treatment methods," explains Markus Krieter, a medical technology expert from the polycarbonates business group at Bayer MaterialScience. A recent application of a Bayer PC grade was in pressure-resistant ampoules for the Injex needle-free injection system.
GE Plastics, meanwhile, recently introduced two new autoclavable biocompatible polycarbonate grades-Lexan HPX4 and HPX8R-for medical applications (January 2006 MPW). A third Lexan medical grade, HPS7, is radio-lucent (invisible to x-rays) and was employed by Rigid Orthopedics in its Clear Wrist Fixator. The grade also passed the application requirements for impact resistance, clarity, lightweight, and gamma sterilization capability.
For automotive applications, Bayer MaterialScience recently debuted Bayblend DP T65 TX, a PC/ABS alloy for thin-wall applications, boasting 15% better flow than current Bayer PC/ABS grades without compromising other properties. Bayer MaterialScience sees great potential for using the new material, particularly in vehicle interiors and for coated components for vehicle exteriors. Bayer's Makrolon AG 2677 PC, meanwhile, was employed in the "teardrop" roof of a concept car at the Geneva Motor Show held in March this year. The entire roof dome was molded in a single shot from the automotive glazing grade.
Construction represents a promising area for PC, where it competes with such materials as acrylic and PVC. In a recent major project, the largest round roof of its kind in the world-that of the massive new Shanghai South Railway Station- was constructed of Lexan PC sheet from GE. The roof uses 55,000m2 of GE's Lexan multiwall sheet.
GE sheet was also employed in the boarding platform roof. More than 25 tonnes were employed to construct the six 360m-long, parallel roof sections. Bayer MaterialScience, Leverkusen, Germany; +49-214-30-1; www.bayermaterialscience.com; GE Plastics, Pittsfield, MA, USA; +1 413-448-7383; www.geadvancedmaterials.com
New grades go head-on versus PC in headlights
Polycarbonate has a long history of use in automotive lighting applications, but a number of suppliers of other thermoplastics are striving to snatch market share in these parts.
For instance, engineering thermoplastics supplier Solvay Advanced Polymers LLC has introduced two materials it says are optimal for use in highly reflective automotive forward lighting applications (headlamp bezels and reflectors, fog-lamp reflectors, and park-and-turn reflectors). Both materials allow for direct metallizing.
One grade, Udel LTG-2000 polysulfone (PSU), is useful to temperatures up to 175°C; the second grade, Radel LTG-3000 polyethersulfone (PES), is suitable for use in temperatures up to 205°C. Both are aimed at toppling the entrenched materials, polyetherimide (PEI) and PC/PEI blends. Both Solvay materials can be directly metallized, as opposed to offline metallization and its associated costs.
According to Solvay, its Radel LTG-3000 PES beats many PEI grades on temperature resistance and 50% higher impact resistance, while offering a 33% increase in melt-flow rates. "This increase in flow allows engineers to reduce wallstock by at least 25% while maintaining toughness," says Matt Howlett, global market manager for lighting materials at Solvay Advanced Polymers. "The first time you put the LTG materials in a tool, you'll appreciate the difference-pressures will drop, material will flow better, and you'll fill out the part with less molded-in stress."
Udel LTG-2000 polysulfone is Solvay's champion versus high-temperature PC and PC/PEI blends. Solvay says its PSU has greater temperature resistance than most high-temperature polycarbonates and PC/PEI blends. The new lighting-grade polysulfone also has significantly higher flow rates than these competitors.
Solvay recently invested $50 million to expand its Marietta, OH facility in order to increase its sulfone-based thermoplastics capacity.
In an interesting application development and PC replacement scenario, headlamp bezels for the new Ford Transit are the first instance this part has been developed and molded in Turkey. Turkish electrical components supplier Mako, owned by Magnetti Marelli (Italy), molds the bezels using Zytel 103 HSL, a heat-stabilized nylon 66 from DuPont. Polycarbonate is the entrenched bezel material.
The parts were first premiered at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, England in late April. Mako applies a silver-metallic paint bezels; no primer is needed. Solvay Advanced Polymers LLC, Alpharetta, GA, USA; +1 770-772-8200; www.solvayadvancedpolymers.com; DuPont, Wilmington, DE, USA; +1 800-441-0575; www.plastics.dupont.com
PC stands up to sterilization
Applicable in medical packaging applications, a new polycarbonate (PC) film is able to withstand gamma and E-beam radiation used in sterilization without yellowing. Makrofol LP 209 uses an additive system to tolerate the sterilization technologies that are increasingly displacing ethylene oxide gassing, which requires heat and can leave residue.
Potential applications include titration plates, instrument boxes, and implant packaging, with the film available in standard thicknesses between 175-500 micrometers. Makrofol LP 209 satisfies ISO 10993 Part 1 biocompatibility requirements, which regulate materials in contact with body fluids and tissue for up to 30 days. In addition, the material meets US-Phamacopeia Class VI biological compatibility standards.
In another medical PC development for the manufacturer, following its success within the marketplace, a PC grade has been granted commercial status, earning a new moniker: Makrolon Rx1452.
Offering strength, clarity, and processability, the PC meets FDA-modified ISO 10933, Part 1 requirements for biocompatibility in certain tints and colors. Makrolon Rx1452 PC is said to be especially suited for difficult-to-fill molds and parts with shallow draft angles, like cylinders, thanks to an internal mold-release technology. Normally, many PCs can require the use of a spray-in mold release to get components to eject cleanly from the mold, but the use of such chemicals in cleanroom environs of medical applications, is, of course, not an option. The material is also said to help decrease cycle time, and allow for automation of demolding, potentially reducing direct-labor costs. Bayer MaterialScience LLC, Pittsburgh, USA; +1 412-777-2000; www.bayer.com.
PC glazing finds windshield application
Moving beyond side windows or sunroofs and introducing the latest generation of its Exatec 900 glazing paired with Lexan GLX polycarbonate (PC), Toyota Auto Body used the material system for windshields in nine electric vehicles deployed at the 2005 World Exposition (Aichi, Japan).
Exatec 900, which is the latest iteration of the original Exatec 500 system launched in 2003, includes 900vt (vehicle top) and 900el (electroluminescence) technologies. The polymer-based system reportedly reduced weight by 40%-50%, while offering wiper performance and extended life.
Exatec's (Southfield, MI) product includes a PECVD (plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition) coating for glass-like abrasion, wiper capability, extended weathering, scratch resistance, and a bonding surface. Silicon hard coating is included for UV protection, with inks and pastes used for the purposes of decoration and functionality. The GE Lexan or Bayer Makrolon PC is the final element, including additives and dyes. The system also includes the SHX proprietary weather interlayer, which, using a predictive weathering model program, was projected to withstand more than 10 years of outdoor exposure. Exatec is a 50:50 joint-venture business established by Bayer MaterialScience (Leverkusen, Germany) and General Electric Advanced Materials (GEAM; Pittsfield, MA) in 2003. Bayer points out that PC has already replaced glass in more than 90% of automotive headlamps, and its use in applications like the louvered sliding sunroof of the Mercedes Benz A-class bodes well for the future automotive integration. GE Advanced Materials, Pittsfield, MA, USA; www.ge.com.
Carmakers pass on glass
Polycarbonate (PC) window glazing is fast moving from novelty product to mainstream application. Weight savings and parts' integration, the hallmarks of plastics in their replacement of so many traditional materials, here also are seen as key attributes. Safety also plays a significant part in the transition.
Exatec, the PC glazing technology joint venture formed in 1998 between Bayer MaterialScience and GE Plastics, inMarch introduced a new product, Exatec 900el, which would allow injection molding of an electroluminescent interior light-band in different colors directly integrated into the perimeter of the transparent polycarbonate car roof.
Exatec's research focuses on the manufacturing processes that automotive systems suppliers need to design, mold, print decorate, UV protect, plasma hardcoat, bond, and assemble windows. The company licenses its technology.
The electroluminescent roof was manufactured using the proven Exatec 900 technology and the light-band was applied directly onto a film. The illumination intensity conforms to the legal regulations and does not exceed the allowed level; drivers and passengers can adjust the brightness of the interior lighting.
The electroluminescent light-bands consist of a stack of layers that work, in principle, like a capacitor. Between a front and a rear electrode there is a layer of luminescent pigment, which, together with the encapsulating product, forms the insulating layer (dielectric). When a voltage is applied to one of these electroluminescent cells, the color pigments begin to shine due to the current.
Most current sunroofs are made of either tempered glass or standard laminated glass. Single-layer tempered glass is the traditional, low-cost alternative but is losing favor due to safety concerns and its heavy weight. Greater impact resistance is provided by standard laminated glass with a thin polyvinyl butyral (PVB) film sandwiched between the two sheets of glass.
An alternative solution proposed this spring by supplier DuPont Glass Laminating Solutions (Troy, MI) is its Spallshield thermoplastic composite for use in vehicle sunroofs. Spallshield is a composite of PVB and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), with an additional antiscratch coating on the PET. The composite can be applied to a single, standard layer of glass using traditional glass lamination processes.
Spall means to break into small splinters or fragments. DuPont markets the material as an alternative to pure organic plastic glazing or other existing glass-glass type laminates. The technology was specified in sunroof systems on the new S- and R-Class vehicles from Mercedes-Benz, introduced in the latter half of 2005. DuPont's technology is new for mainstream automobiles, but has seen nearly three decades of use in bullet-resistant and hurricane glass.
Applied to a single layer of glass, Spallshield provides up to eight times the impact performance versus standard laminated glass, according to DuPont, while offering weight savings to 30%. According to the supplier, the sunroof market is growing at 10%-15%/yr rates. Weight savings have become a dominant issue in sunroof design as these parts, too, grow ever larger with panoramic roofs the current rage.
The supplier says the technology is being considered for 14 other vehicles, for sunroofs, sidelights, and backlights. Exatec LLC, Wixon, MI, USA; +1-248-926-4200; www.exatec.de; DuPont, Wilmington, DE, USA; +1-800-441-0575; www.plastics.dupont.com
Injection molding - Optical moldings match diamond turning
 Injection molding matches the accuracy and quality of diamond turning in the production of precision military optics. |
Injection molder Fosta-Tek Optics (Leominster, MA) is claiming a first for its process for molding precision military optics that match the accuracy and quality of glass optics machined via diamond turning. The result, say company officials, will enable the mass production of lightweight, high-quality plastic optics at a fraction of the cost of the machined glass alternative.
Said Fosta-Tek Vice President Jim LeBlanc, “There are tooling and temperature issues, mold shrinkage, induced distortion caused by shrinkage, and more. What we’ve been able to do is duplicate a high-quality optical surface very accurately and predictably. We’re talking submicron-level tolerances.”
Autodesk to acquire Moldflow
Part design will meet molding simulation in a deal that combines CAD supplier Autodesk (San Rafael, CA) with mold-filling simulation provider Moldflow (Framingham, MA). Autodesk will pay $22/share for Moldflow in a deal valued at $297 million. Paul Davis, director of industry and product public relations for Autodesk, told MPW that Moldflow was targeted as part of his company’s ongoing search for partners.
Autodesk views the Moldflow platform as a means to augment its Digital Prototyping line, while Moldflow said in a release that the combined analysis and simulation programs will support part design, tool design, and part production.
Davis stressed that the addition is fully complementary without redundancy in lines, as Autodesk had no products specifically related to plastics or mold filling. Davis points out that Autodesk’s AutoCAD is not a 3D simulation or analysis tool the way that Inventor is, but Moldflow products can use Inventor models today.
In some instances, the platforms are able to communicate, with plans to boost that exchange potential going forward. Peter Rucinski, director of marketing communications at Moldflow, says that currently Moldflow Plastics Adviser links to Autodesk Inventor via a button.
Moldflow’s R&D, sales, service, and marketing teams will remain largely intact, according to Davis, with decisions regarding branding and the Moldflow name postponed until the deal closes. Moldflow has 285 employees and reported FY07 revenues of $55.9 million.
Hosokawa Alpine dedicates new production facility
 Employees at Hosokawa helped finance, and will profit from, a new solar collection unit. |
Blown-film equipment maker Hosokawa Alpine (Augsburg, Germany) opened a new 7100m2 production expansion at its headquarters, representing an investment of more than €11 million. The new building replaces an older, smaller structure from the last century. The new building will be used to assemble blown-film lines, winders, MDO film-stretching units, mills, and recycling units.
Also, 100 of the 540 Hosokawa Alpine employees contributed more than €400,000 to build a photovoltaic installation on the roof of the new building. These workers then formed their own company to sell the yearly energy output of 250,000 kW/hr from the 2700m2 unit to the city’s electricity works.
Total investment in the solar collection array is €1.3 million and was co-financed by several German banks. Profits from the energy generated are distributed to the workers according to their share ownership.
China pursues coal as path to plastics
Coal’s appeal to China is twofold: it could help bring the country’s industrial awakening westward and promote national self sufficiency in basic chemicals and some plastics.
Behind the U.S. (27%) and Russia (17%), China has the third-largest global coal reserves (13%), with much of the fossil fuel already used to feed the country’s exploding energy needs. Increasingly however, China is exploring liquefaction of the hydrocarbon for the creation of chemicals. In late 2007, the country completed its first coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Built by Shenhua Coal Liquefaction Corp., that facility will have an initial capacity of 20,000 barrels per day, with the tentative goal being to boost capacity to 100,000 bbl/day by 2010.
According to the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) “2007 International Energy Outlook,” China’s Shenhua and Ningxia Industry Groups are undertaking feasibility studies for two 80,000 bbl/day coal-to-liquids plants to be sited in the Ningxia Autonomous Region and the Shaanxi Province.
The EIA reports that government and industry groups in China have proposed daily CTL capacity of 1 million barrels by 2020. Last summer, ShengdaTech Inc. (Taian City, China) added 40,000 tonnes of annual nano-precipitated calcium carbonate (NPCC) capacity at its factory in Xianyang City, Shanxi Province. The NPPCs are used in tires, paints, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and other products.
To support these efforts, the Chinese government has shifted its tariff structure for coal exports. In the past, China offered an 8% export tax rebate to encourage exports, but it now imposes a 5% export tax on coking coal, with an additional export tax on steam coal under consideration. The country has also lowered its 2007 export cap to 46 million tons, which is roughly half of its coal exports in 2003.
 ShengdaTech invested roughly $10 million to add two new lines, each with 20,000 tonnes of annual capacity, to its factory at Shengda Industrial Park. |
Black gold
At the company’s annual Global Petrochemical Conference, Paul Pang, managing director of Chemical Market Associates Inc.’s (CMAI; Houston) Shanghai branch, outlined China’s CTL efforts as they relate to chemicals and plastics. Pang said that the country’s latest five-year plan calls for development of heavy industry in the west, including chemicals and metals. As China sill imports 20 million lb of basic chemicals annually, Pang said it is working toward adding large-scale coal-fed petrochemical sites, with 24 million lb of basic chemical capacity added by 2011.
The primary plastic derived from these efforts has been polyvinyl chloride (PVC), with coal-derived capacity jumping from 2 million tons in 2002 to 7 million by 2007. By 2012, Pang says coal-based methanol and PVC throughput will double from current levels, with more than 90% of China’s PVC being derived from coal. The coal will also be used to produce propylene and ethylene, monomer feedstocks for polypropylene and polyethylene among other resins, with the state backing several large-scale projects. Over the next three to four years, the Middle East will add huge amounts of resin capacity, with much of the production intended for China, but in PVC, at least, Pang says China’s CTL path is economically competitive, with the end product roughly $100 cheaper than PVC derived from petroleum.
Pang’s CMAI associate, Steve Zinger, reported at the same conference that there are 12 coal-to-polyolefins projects being looked at in China, calling the effort a “game changer in olefins.” Zinger added, “There’s a lot of internal pressure to get self sufficient in other basic commodities, and certainly ethylene is no exception,” pointing out that as in steel, China’s government will wholeheartedly encourage domestic development of basic industries.
New technology helps prevent counterfeiting
One concern still found in the medical market is the explosive growth of counterfeit medicines that endanger patient’s health. Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute IGB (Stuttgart) and its industrial partner, identif (Erlangen, Germany), have developed a new approach to anti-forgery security for flexible plastic packaging. “We coat plastics films with fluorocarbon nano-layers, on top of which the metal layer generating the color effect is applied,” explained Michael Haupt, project manager at Fraunhofer IGB, during the Medtec show in mid-March. “The advantage is that the basic characteristics of the material remain unaltered, while the surface of the film is optimized by the nano-coating for further processing.”
The nano-layers are applied in a low-pressure plasma chamber by placing a label in a vacuum chamber where fluorine gases are introduced and ignited. “We can deposit different coatings with defined properties on the label surface, depending on the proportions of electrons, ions, neutrons, and photons in this luminous gas mixture,” said Christian Oehr, department head at Fraunhofer IGB. Subsequently, identif applies an additional layer of thin metal to the polymer surface, with that metal generating color effects. Due to the underlying flurocarbon layer, the color-change effect can be copied only with extreme difficulty, while the label is more easily machine readable, he says. The two organizations introduced this new product during last year’s K2007 trade show.
SPI announces International Plastics Design Competition at NPE-2009
Shifting the long-running Structural Plastics Division (SPD) and now Alliance of Plastics Processors (APP) annual parts competition to a global venue, the Society of the Plastics Industry’s (SPI: Washington, DC) APP division will issue a call for applicants this fall to compete in the inaugural International Plastics Design Competition (IPDC) to be held one year from now at NPE2009. The APP and its predecessor, the SPD, organized 36 previous design competitions, but in a release, SPI says the one at NPE2009 will be the first that’s open to products in any end-use market, from automotive to packaging, and to entrants from any country in the world.
Some of the nominated IPDC parts will be on exhibit at a special pavilion in the new West Building of McCormick Place, while large-scale entrants will be displayed in the main concourses. In addition to a panel of expert judges, there will be one Peoples’ Choice award for the product receiving the most online pre-show votes from visitors at www.npe.org. Winners will be announced during the Plastics Hall of Fame induction banquet on June 22.—tdeligio@modplas.com
Rapid processes gaining ground
 EOSINT P 700, with a capacity of 29 by 17 by 22 inches. |
When Wohlers Associates Inc. released its most recent findings, “Wohlers Report 2007,” an in-depth global study on the state of the 3D printing, additive fabrication, and rapid manufacturing industry, it revealed that average unit (machine) sales growth, compounded annually, was 37.4% over the past 18 years. Annual sales have grown by more than 26 times—157 units to 4165 units—from 1993 to 2006.
Wohlers Associates has been tracking the developments and trends in additive fabrication, also known as rapid prototyping, since 1988. “The popularity of 3D printers is driving the growth of the industry,” said Wohlers, principal author of “Wohlers Report 2007” and president of Wohlers Associates. “3D printing grew from nothing to nearly 15% of the installed base in its first four years, and represents 68% of the total number of additive systems installed during this period.” 3D printers are low-cost variations of additive systems that are office friendly, easier to use, and less expensive to operate.
The report also reveals that an estimated 77.4% of the 3D printers sold in 2006 came from Stratasys and Z Corp. Additive systems from these two companies have been the most popular in recent years, the report notes, and have led much of the industry’s growth.
Rapid manufacturing—the direct production of finished goods from additive fabrication—is the next frontier, says Wohlers in the report. “Many companies in the aerospace, motor sports, medical, dental, and consumer product industries are now using additive processes for custom and short-run production, and we believe that rapid manufacturing will eventually grow to become the largest application of additive fabrication,” Wohlers said.
Stratasys Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) a maker of rapid prototyping and direct digital manufacturing systems, recently announced a new build option that increases throughput up to 50% compared with previously available options. This enhancement affects the Fuse Deposition Modeling (FDM) and FDM Vantage systems using ABS plastic. The exact throughput improvement will depend on part geometry, and average speed improvement is 40%. The new build option employs a new layer thickness, measuring 0.013 inch (0.330mm), which is best suited to larger geometry, where the highest resolution is not required or when faster speed is needed. FDM layer-thickness options now include 0.005, 0.007, 0.010, and 0.013 inch (0.127, 0.178, 0.254, and 0.330 mm).
“Users can select layer-thickness options to tailor their part’s surface finish, feature detail, and build-speed to the job at hand,” said Fred Fischer, product marketing manager for Stratasys. “The new ‘13 slice’ option provides more flexibility, in that with one system you can build anything from very fine, intricate parts like cell-phone pieces to a large engine block. These options will also give more choice for those doing direct digital manufacturing.”
While more processors and mold manufacturers are finding the value in various forms of rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing, getting them to adapt RP/ RM into their business models has been an education process. Jim Fendrick, general manager for EOS North America (Novi, MI), said that while the market has been quite receptive to the company’s presence in North America, attracting the attention of moldmaking companies and processors with the advantages of RP and RM hasn’t been easy. “It’s really about educating them as to the benefits and the value that this can provide,” he said in an interview at EOS’s North American Tech Center in Novi.
“We’ve backed away from mold, tool-and-die shops somewhat, primarily because of a reluctance of those types of companies to adopt this technology,” said Fendrick. “When the EOS DMLS [direct metal laser sintering] technology was introduced, we brought with it more usable materials such as the M270 and tool steels, which opened up opportunities more for metal parts than molds. It’s been readily accepted for producing metal parts for the aerospace and medical industries.”
However, Linear Mold & Engineering (Livonia, MI), is a moldmaker that offers a variety of RP and RM services including DMLS, stereolithography (SLA), selected laser sintering (SLS), urethane parts and silicone tooling, and composite and hybrid tooling. The company purchased its first EOSINT M 270 machine from EOS last year, and recently purchased a second M 270 for titanium components.
Plastic laser sintering is available in three systems from EOS. The Formiga P 100 is a small, fast, efficient e-Manufacturing system with a build envelope of 200 mm x 250 mm x 330 mm, and produces plastic products from polyamide or polystyrene within a few hours and directly from CAD data. The EOSINT P 390 can handle a broad range of plastic laser sintering solutions, building end products and fully functional parts as well as high-quality patterns for plaster, investment, and vacuum casting in a few hours. The EOSINT P 730 is the next evolution of the P 700, a double-laser system for laser-sintering of plastics, and one of the largest systems available. It builds components layer-by-layer, directly from CAD data, in a single process. The P 730 manufactures a fuel tank with a size of 607 mm by 330 mm by 491 mm (23.9 by 13 by 19.3 inches) in one piece and in just four days.
Currently, EOS has 46 systems installed in North America. Companies adopting the DMLS technology tend to be larger OEMs and service bureaus, such as Morris Technologies Inc. (Cincinnati, OH), a company that uses a variety of rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing equipment for new-product R&D.
“The initial goal in the moldmaking arena was to produce molds and tooling that could mold on to 1000 pieces,” says Bill Noack, President of Morris Technologies. “Anything higher than that is not a fit for us.”
The RP/RM industry “has received a bit of a black eye because there were some technologies that didn’t deliver what they promised, such as SLA molds, for example,” Noack explains. “Some new technologies that look promising are the SLA Nanotool and the SLS Laserform.”
With respect to producing rapid molds, the benefit of the DMLS process is that there are no secondary steps required. “Your mold comes out clean and needing very little polishing,” Noack says. The EOSINT M 270 machine allows Morris Technologies to build tools with much thinner walls—less than 0.0010 inch. Morris Technologies has six machines, and is the largest producer of DMLS parts in the U.S.
Noack showed off a mold that can be hand carried. The mold was a handle mold in which the customer needed polycarbonate parts in two weeks or less. Morris Technologies built the mold in 11 hours at a cost of $5200, reducing both the cost and time compared to the Chinese quote.
EOS offers a number of metal powder materials including titanium and DM20, a fine-grained bronze-based metal powder, similar to aluminum, and porous. “The key is to utilize the right material for the right application,” said Noack.
Pick your gate: side, edge, or double-edge
Injection molding
 Even in small spaces, Heitec’s 3D hot runner system offers versatility. |
Combining the benefits of valve gating with the advantages of side gating, Heitec’s new 3D hot runner system enables molders to edge gate, side gate, or edge gate from two sides. The modularly-built flat nozzle consists of two separately controlled, flat (optional round) nozzles at its front, each shaft outfitted with its own replaceable heating element and thermocouple. Minimum cavity spacing is just 9 mm.
The system incorporates the mechanical angled actuator Heitec introduced in 2006, with just one actuator bar driving the needles, guaranteeing their synchronous movement. All needles are adjustable in one alteration or can be individually adjusted externally.
Heitec Heisskanaltechnik, Burgwald,
Germany; +49 6451-7283-0; www.heitec.com
Heitec hot runners are marketed in North America by Technoject Machinery Corp. Bolton, ON; +1 905-951-7144; www.technoject.com
Fluoropolymers shine in construction, IT, autos
A diverse family of resins features prominently across an equally diverse application spectrum
Fluoropolymers are a class of paraffinic polymers that have some or all of the hydrogen replaced by fluorine. These polymers exhibit exceptional chemical resistance and barrier properties, broad temperature resistance, good electrical properties, almost no moisture absorption, extremely low coefficients of friction, and resistance to weathering, among other attributes. These traits make them ideal materials for heat-resistant cabling, chemically resistant liners; gaskets; tubing; filters; valve, pump, and electrical components; coatings; and weather-resistant films, for example.Various types of fluoropolymers are commercially available, including ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) copolymer, perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) resin, polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and polyvinyl fluoride. Key global suppliers of these materials include Asahi Glass, Daikin Industries, DuPont, Dyneon, and Solvay Solexis. Fluoropolymers can be processed via extrusion, injection molding, compression molding, transfer molding, and blowmolding.
Construction profile rises
Due to the low surface tension of fluoropolymers, films processed from them (typically ETFE) are virtually self-cleaning, needing only rain to wash away accumulated dirt.
Films also exhibit very good tear and puncture strength and good hail resistance. Moreover, and importantly, they are rated flame retardant non-burning drip. These attributes make them suitable for use in various construction applications.
Usually extruded in thicknesses of 100-250 µm, the films can be readily conjoined by heat-sealing. They have been used a fair amount in roof structures for sports stadiums, swimming pools and botanical gardens, and extensively in greenhouses in Japan.
ETFE film will feature prominently at the 2006 World Cup soccer championships in Germany. Asahi Glass has supplied 150,000 sq2 of its Aflex film for the roof of the Allianz-Arena soccer stadium in Munich, where the opening match of the World Cup is to be held. The stadium is the world's largest structure made of ETFE film. ETFE enabled a design where the side walls and roof are smooth and curved that also permeates ultraviolet light needed to grow the lawn on the pitch and enables light shows that use the side walls and roof as monitor screens.
IT support role
Fluoropolymers are also playing a key role in the IT revolution. Buildings in the United States that have cables that incorporate flammable insulating materials (such as polyethylene and PVC) in the plenums inside the ceilings, are required to route such cables through metal pipes in order to increase the flame resistance of the cables. If FEP is used as an insulating material, no metal pipes are required. Thus, FEP has come to be employed extensively as an insulating and jacketing material in limited combustible cables for LAN applications. FEP cables are now being used in more than 70% of high-rise building networks.
Reducing hydrocarbon emissions
In Japan, blow-by gas from diesel engines used to be released into the atmosphere, but to reduce hydrocarbon emissions, it must now be returned to the intake line. The turbo hose between the turbocharger and the intercooler is currently made from silicone rubber, but blow-by gas contains a small amount of engine oil mist and silicone rubber has poor resistance to oil. Therefore, engine manufacturers are looking to replace it with specialty fluoroelastomers such as TFE-propylene dipolymer and TFE-propylene-VdF terpolymer from Asahi Glass.
Fluoropolymers are also employed extensively in fuel cells, where they help form key components such as end plates and bipolar plates in fuel cell stacks, methanol and hydrogen tubing, manifolds, and valves and meters. Fluoropolymers also are employed as barrier resins in multilayer tubing for automotive fuel lines.
Performance advances
Suppliers are also making advances on the performance front. PTFE grade M-111 from Daikin, for example, features improved creep properties. Parts exhibit less deformation under load than conventional PTFE. It is a good choice for seals used under high temperatures and pressure. Another grade, M-112, offers fewer microvoids than conventional PTFE, plus good bend fatigue resistance. It is suited for dynamic applications such as bellows and diaphragms.
Asahi Glass, meanwhile, has developed a low-melting-point ETFE that retains the excellent heat resistance and other mechanical properties normally associated with EFTE. Melting point is 225°C, compared with 260°C for the company's standard grade. Film with excellent transparency can be produced and processing can be performed over a wide temperature range.