Modern Plastics Worldwide - July/August 2009 - dae uptlax

More documents

Recommendations

Info

PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY MATERIAL THOUGHTS Technology drives new class of elastomers Eliminating the oils and plasticizers typically used to soften the materials, a new class of elastomers claims to offer higher performance for longer durations at more temperature extremes. Wayne Rodrigue, CEO Exousia Advanced Materials, told MPW his company’s RPA thermoplastic olefin (TPO) also eliminates exposure to hydrogen peroxide as a manufacturing step with a proprietary process that results in covalent bonding between the crosslinked rubber and its olefin matrix. Coming to market with 14 formulations, Exousia has spent the last two years developing commercial applications for the technology and proving its viability. This work included testing with General Motors to the have the resin validated for use in automotive components. Exousia says theses tests proved the material dimensionally stable from -40°F to 140°F. While oils and plasticizers can bleach out New HDPE, PP grades boost fi lm properties The latest additions to the Alathon family of film resins include two new medium-molecular-weight (MMW), highdensity polyethylene (HDPE) materials, which promise moisture barrier, low gels, and excellent organoleptic properties. Alathon M6010 and Alathon M5010 have improved moisture barrier for dryfood packaging applications like cereal, snack crackers, and cake-mix box liners. An MI homopolymer, LyondellBasell says lab tests have shown that Alathon M6010 increased moisture barrier vs. benchmark grades by approximately 30% without affecting processability, tear, and impact. The material also offers oxygen barrier. Alathon M5010 is a 1 MI copolymer resin designed to improve toughness for a variety of films, including mono- and multilayer structures. LyondellBasell says the tear performance of film made from the material has been increased 20%, while high-speed puncture resistance was boosted by 40%. Alathon M6010 and Alathon M5010 are currently manufactured in the U.S. and available for export. In blown polypropylene (PP) films, LyondellBasell has launched a grade based on its proprietary Catalloy technology that offers a combination of transparency and impact, puncture, and tear resistance. Adflex 7492 XCP has a 13% haze value at a film thickness of 30 μm, offering clarity while maintaining softness and processing performance. LyondellBasell says the product fills a need for a transparent blown PP that maintains mechanical properties, bubble stability, and throughput. The company believes applications could range from consumer and industrial packaging to agricultural and industrial films, and it’s working to develop new blown-film applications where PP grades previously fell short. LyondellBasell’s new Adflex 7492 XCP grade of PP for blown film combines transparency with resistance to impact, puncture, and tears. of a part like a dashboard over time, resulting in fogging of the windshield and a brittle, discolored instrument panel, Rodrigue says Exousia materials had zero migration or durometer change. Among the truly novel characteristics of the material, according to Rodrigue, is that it actually gets tougher the colder it gets; when melted, it exhibits thixotropic properties, flowing like water; and it can be rigid or soft, with a durometer range from 55 to 95 Shore A. Exousia says the product is suitable for all major plastic converting technologies, save rotational molding, and it sees it as a viable replacement to engineering plastics like ABS (offering more impact), and nylon, being hydrophilic as opposed to hygroscopic. Exousia Advanced Materials Inc., Sugar Land, TX, U.S.A.; +1 281-313-2333; www.exousiacorp.com The company has conducted what it calls promising tests where Adflex was used as the core layer in a co-extruded film with fractional melt-flow-rate LDPE. The finished product maintained clarity when clarified PP skin layers were used. LyondellBasell says customers needing greater mechanical properties could apply (metallocene) mLLDPE skin layers with a Adflex 7492 XCP core. LyondellBasell, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.com TPV gives auto interiors a softer touch Promising cushion-like indentation that’s associated with foamed structures, a new high-flow thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) also offers cost-reduction opportunities and good surface qualities for automotive interiors. ExxonMobil Chemical’s Santoprene TPV 8211-85 M350 reportedly provides low and stable gloss level; high scratch and mar resistance; good abrasion and chemical resistance; and low fogging and odor emission. The elastomer is colorable and can be used for door panels, center consoles, lower instrument panels, back cover of seats, and B and C pillars. To achieve “comfort touch,” Santoprene TPV M350 can be processed using two- 20 JULY/AUGUST <strong>2009</strong> • MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE mpw.plasticstoday.com
PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY ExxonMobil Chemical’s Santoprene TPV M350 provides what the company calls “comfort touch,” and good surface qualities for automotive interiors. component injection molding or monosandwich molding onto a rigid polypropylene substrate for an unfoamed structure that does not indent. Either way, ExxonMobil Chemical says the result is an over-molded TPV skin with a soft touch. A thermoplastic, the TPV also has what the company calls “sustainability opportunities” because less labor and time are required for production, with reduced scrap and improved recycling. ExxonMobil Chemical Company, Houston, TX, U.S.A.; +1 281-870-6000; www.santoprene.com Compounder teams carbon fi bers with PPS, PPA, and PEEK Specialty compounder LATI Industria Termoplastici SpA (Vedano Olona, Italy) has created a new range of injection moldable “super structural compounds,” pairing high-temperature, high-performance engineering thermoplastics polyphenylenesulphide (PPS), polyphthalamide (PPA), and polyetheretherketone (PEEK), with high-modulus carbon-fiber yarns. The result: the HM (High Modulus) family of compounds with 40% carbon-fiber loading for what LATI calls dramatically higher elastic modulus. In the development of the compounds—Larton K/40 HM (PPS), Laramid D K/40 HM (PPA), and Larpeek 10 K/40 HM (PEEK)—LATI weighed a mpw.plasticstoday.com variety of resins, fibers, and compounding technologies. High-tenacity choppedstrand carbon fibers are traditionally applied in thermoplastic compounding to increase elastic modulus and load at break without making the materials brittle. LATI chose to experiment with high-modulus carbon-fiber yarns, saying the HM yarns show an elastic modulus that is almost twice that of HT grades. LATI also considered the high shear stress and pressure within a compounding extruder that can break up fibers, ultimately affecting the strength they can impart to the composite. After several trials, LATI technicians altered the extrusion parameters and optimized machine layout, specifically addressing the carbon-fiber feeding position along the extruder barrel. In terms of parameters, LATI says the speed and profile of the plasticization screw have also been optimized. Throught the trials, LATI found it needed to deal with fiber-bundle buildup occurring during extrusion and molding, with the bundles hindering melt flow and leading to the carbonization of the polymer, machine jamming, and defective parts. HM fibers were added up to 45% by weight, and the melt’s viscosity was closely controlled to avoid poor molding and material degradation due to friction and shear. LATI was also careful to ensure uniform distribution of carbon fibers in the matrix. Using ISO-R-527 tensile tests, the compounder determined the HM materials achieved tensile strengths above 40,000 MPa, with the PPS-based grade New developments reaching 49,000 MPa. By comparison, LATI says a polyamide 6/6 reinforced 50% with glass fibers, is three times “softer” than the best HM grade. In terms of load at break, HM compounds offer up to 280 MPa (tensile, as per ISO- R-527) for the PPA-based grade. LATI says competitive industrial structural compounds featuring 50-60% glass-fiber loading achieve around 220 MPa with a much higher density. LATI Industria Termoplastici SpA, Vedano Olona, Italy; +39 0332-409111; www.lati.com Additives bring tastes, aromas to plastics Plastic applications requiring custom taste and scent enhancements can look to a new alliance between compounder A. Schulman Inc. (Akron, OH) and Add the Flavor LLC (New York), which hopes to commercialize its Polyflav product as a masterbatch or additive. Chuck Hampton, A. Schulman’s North American masterbatch business manager, sees a variety of end markets for the technology, telling MPW, “We envision applications in virtually any plastic part that may come in contact with the mouth,” Hampton said. “Items such as mouthguards, toothbrushes, flossing devices, waterbottle spouts, etc., have been discussed.” A. Schulman will add them to its Polybatch line of specialty additive masterbatches. Polyflav comes in two series, S and O, with both reported to provide long-lasting flavor. “S” offers a “strong” scent with a “subtle” taste, according to A. Schulman, while the “O” or “Optimized” series provides both strong scent and taste. Hampton said the materials are FDA recognized, and several customers are in sampling and scale-up. The company expects commercial applications to be in the field over the next three to six months. “Now that we have announced to the public,” Hampton said, “we expect the pace of projects to heat up as molders seek to be first to offer a product utilizing this innovative technology.” Current flavors include mint, raspberry, grape, lemon, chocolate, and orange. A. Schulman Inc., Akron, OH, U.S.A.; +1 330-666-3751; www.aschulman.com MODERN PLASTICS WORLDWIDE • JULY/AUGUST <strong>2009</strong> 21
Page 1 and 2: A Canon Communications LLC Publicat
Page 3 and 4: High-quality: automatic clamping fo
Page 5 and 6: World Tour 32 Erie Molded Plastics
Page 7 and 8: 1137_e Famous worldwide. Zimmer ®
Page 9 and 10: EDITORIAL An abundance of resilienc
Page 11 and 12: Although demand remains tepid in No
Page 13 and 14: This concept includes a finite area
Page 15 and 16: PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY Let the proce
Page 17 and 18: PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY Higher loads
Page 19: PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY Johnson Contr
Page 23 and 24: Attend the World’s Leading Automo
Page 25 and 26: PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY Product Focus
Page 27 and 28: PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY Innovation &
Page 29 and 30: The Trade Shows Connecting You to t
Page 31 and 32: Bayer MaterialScience’s new Makro
Page 33 and 34: WORLD TOUR improve product. “Inve
Page 35 and 36: WORLD TOUR ity of China’s $586 bi
Page 37 and 38: WORLD TOUR reduces the chain load a
Page 39 and 40: WORLD TOUR the necessary number of
Page 41 and 42: DECORATING/PRINTING EQUIPMENT ITW T
Page 43 and 44: Trexel, Inc., offers The MuCell® M
Page 45 and 46: THERMAL ANALYSIS, ANALYZING & TESTI
Page 47 and 48: CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING For informat
Page 49 and 50: CALENDAR OF EVENTS SEPTEMBER 13-15
Page 51 and 52: Teach polypropylene cool new tricks
Page 53: For Zebras stripes are part of the

Modern Plastics Worldwide - July/August 2009 - dae uptlax

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?