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Extrusion of technical plastic profiles
greenprofile technical
battenfeld-cincinnati stands not only for state-of-the-art machine manufacturing and innovative technologies, but also for more than five decades of experience in the production of extruders and extrusion equipment.We plan, design and install profile extrusion lines with perfectly coordinated components that feature high output combined with excellent end product quality all along the line and have consequently made battenfeld-cincinnati a market leader in single- and twin-screw extruder technology.In all of this, functionality, machine availability and cost-efficiency are absolute priorities. With our quality standards, we are real partners for our customers, offering them top-class service. Here, we make a special point of comprehensive counseling in process technology, which is one of our special strengths.
Setting benchmarks
battenfeld-cincinnati – leading solutions
Technical profiles made of plastics – additional functions included
In technical profile production, many companies still rely on traditional materials such as metal. This was the result of a recent survey carried out by a major German plastics processor. Only about 10% of companies interviewed stated that they were processing plastics. When considering the development potential, however, the trend is clearly moving towards plastics. The greatest potential for technical profiles is expected in electrical engineering applications, followed by the automotive and aircraft industries.In addition to PVC, styrene polymers, polyamide, polycarbonate, PMMA, polyolefin and thermoplastic elastomers all play a vital part in technical profile extrusion, depen-ding on the application. Recent market research in Europe has revealed that profiles with small cross-sections take up a share of some 50% of the total market for plastic profiles. Again, about 50% of all small profiles are used for applications in electrical engineering and in the building industry.Plastics are able to combine seemingly contradictory requirements and possess attri-butes that are absent or almost absent in metals. This is of interest especially in view of the demands placed on technical profiles. Toughness, temperature-, chemicals-, wea-thering- and UV-resistance, and compliance with fire safety regulations are a must. In view of their light weight, easy assembly and the ability to provide components with additional functions, the advantages of plastic profiles are obvious.
Plastic profile extrusion – perfectly chiseled
Perfect coordination of all components in profile extrusion is the basis for top-class pro-duct quality. In cooperation with our partners, we have a worldwide production, sales and service network at our disposal, which ensures fast and efficient response to our customers’ wishes. battenfeld-cincinnati possesses extrusion expertise from individual planning to process technology counseling in order to achieve optimal performance with the right components. You can rely on our cost-efficient solutions.
Technical profiles in action
Thanks to their manifold attributes, small profiles can be found in a great variety of applications. Apart from more or less traditional products, such as decorative profiles and edge veneers in the furniture industry or cable conduits, light strips, cover strips and baseboards for the building and electrical industries for electronic components, scanner strips for retail stores and sealing profiles made of thermoplastic elastomers. Some fields of application with future growth potential are of special interest. In par-ticular slide rails and guide systems, profiles for support, load-bearing and fastening functions, and sealing strips are gaining more and more in significance. Smooth sur-faces, sharp contours and extremely narrow tolerances are often required. The strength of components can be increased significantly by using additives or short/long fiberglass fibers, or insertion of copper or steel wires provides profiles with conductivity. The addition of PTFE, silicone oil or similar products optimizes their sliding properties. The range of sealing profiles includes sealing strips for household appliances and window seals as well as applications for extreme conditions, for example in the aviation in-dustry. Sealing profiles are required to meet high demands: high elasticity, excellent resilience and long service life, to name just a few.In addition to single-walled plastic profiles, small foamed PVC profiles are also used, for example as baseboards and picture frames. Quite frequently, additional functions must be integrated in components, which are realized by means of co-extrusion. For instance, sealing profiles are often co-extruded from two materials of different hard-ness grades.
Extrusion of thermoplastic materials
A great variety of thermoplastic materials are used in technical profile extrusion; apart from PVC, these are styrene polymers, polyamide, polycarbonate, PMMA, polyolefin and thermopla-stic elastomers. They normally come as granulates and, with the exception of PVC, are all processed on single-screw extruders.Several polymers, such as ABS, PC and PMMA, are hygroscopic and must be dried prior to processing. Various different screw geometries are used, depending on the plasticizing perfor-mance required for each material. TPE processing in particular requires geometries with special shearing sections in order to ensure even melt homogeneity. To process PA, which frequently contains fiberglass, specially coated screws and barrels must be used to minimize abrasion.
By contrast, polyolefin is less sensitive to shearing stress and high temperatures and relatively easy to process. A specially grooved feed zone ensures optimal material feeding and thus constant, linear throughput. The continually improved proces-sing units with optimized mixing and shearing sections in the screws offer the benefit of absolutely gentle melt processing at low melt temperatures.Carefully adjusted Heating/cooling components ensure optimal material tempering and high efficiency of the extruder. With its modular single-screw extruder concept, battenfeld-cincinnati offers customized solutions for the production of technical pro-files. A choice of different processing lengths ranging from 25 L/D to 40/LD is available, depending on the application and in-dividual requirements.
Downstream equipment
battenfeld-cincinnati profile extrusion lines are rounded off by downstream equipment precisely matching the performance class of extruder and die. From a modular range ofsingle- and dual-chamber vacuum calibrators, spray cooling baths, calibrating sleeves, belt and caterpillar haul-offs and various cutting devices, processors can select the opti-mal downstream equipment for their particular application. If required, special socketingunits can be integrated to form socket joints. In downstream equipment, battenfeld- cincinnati also pays special attention to energy-efficiency and end product quality.
Downstream equipment and control technology
Powerful control systems that are easy to understand and to operate, in combination with a step-by-step automation concept, ensure efficient operation in all areas of profileextrusion.
All extrusion lines are equipped with one of the two intuitively operating control systems available, BMCtouch or EXcXP-touch. Ultimate user-friendliness enables easy handling of even the most complex machine systems. Thanks to the freely configurable screen surface, every operator can adapt the control unit to his own individual needs.
To facilitate monitoring of all parameters of the extrusion line, a modular monitoringconcept has been installed, consisting of energy monitoring, production monitoring and maintenance monitoring. These various functions allow processors to optimize the efficiency of their extrusion lines. A vital contribution to this process is the calculation of specific key figures that, in addition to permitting a comparison between various extru-sion lines, supports and facilitates the optimization of individual lines.
The integration of system extensions such as dosing units, co-extruders, melt pumps and intelligent sensors in the central control system presents no problems whatsoever. The control system is rounded off by network integration and remote service facilities.
Automation
www.battenfeld-cincinnati.com
battenfeld-cincinnati Germany GmbH
Königstraße 53 32547 Bad Oeynhausen
P +49 (5731) 242-0 F +49 (5731) 27124
battenfeld-cincinnati (Foshan) Extrusion Systems Ltd.
2 Jinxiang Road, Daliang, Shunde Foshan, Guangdong
P +86 (757) 2238 0110 F +86 (757) 2221 1801 / 2238 0195
battenfeld-cincinnati Austria GmbH
Laxenburger Str. 246 1230 Wien
P +43 (1) 61006-0 F +43 (1) 61006-8
American Maplan Corporation
823 S. By-Pass, P.O. Box 832 McPherson, KS 67460, USA
P +1 620 241-6843 F +1 620 241-0207
