Injection Moulding Asia German machinery and technology
Exhibition proves its mettle with new technology The recently concluded Fakuma show, held in Friedrichshafen, Germany, attracted an estimated 44,176 visitors, compared with 44,823 last year, which was a slight decrease of 1.5%. Nevertheless, with about 1,700 exhibitors from 35 countries no momentum was lost with the exhibits on show and technology proved to be the draw factor.
US firm Huntsman has developed a new polyetherbased PU (Irogran A85P5050DP) with low melt properties that is easy to process and is suitable for coating textiles by calendaring – a technique used to give fabric a smooth, glossy, hard-wearing finish. Meanwhile, barely two years after its introduction, the high-temperature resistant Ultramid PA Endure from Germany-based BASF has been used by automotive parts supplier Montaplast for a heat shield in the charge-air manifold used on the four-cylinder diesel-powered engine from Daimler.
New developments from materials suppliers S firm Invista Engineering Polymers showcased its Torzen Marathon PA66 resin for the automotive sector. The resin boasts property retention when subjected to high temperatures for an extended amount of time, at least 100% tensile strength retention at 210°C after 1,000 hours. Invista is also developing technical tools for customers and other market players, including mould flow and FEA analysis. Another US firm DuPont Performance Polymers collaborated with injection blow moulding equipment specialist Ossberger to produce the jounce bumper component, which is part of a vehicle’s shock absorber system, from its Hytrel thermoplastic elastomer. Other new grades from the Zytel long-chain polyamides deliver salt stress cracking resistance similar to PA11 and PA12, for use in fuel and air brake lines, typically the domain of PA12. The firm also extended its halogen-free materials, with a new flameDuPont applied FEA on retardant (FR) PA66 with the blow moulding of an enhanced thermal ageing. automotive jounce bumper To cater to the growing made from Hytrel TPE global demand for PC for LED lighting, Germany-based Bayer MaterialScience is expanding its grades for injection moulding and extrusion, including high thermal conductivity grades for cooling elements used for the thermal management of LEDs and a film that joins the points of light from individual LEDs to form a homogenous band of light.
Machinery highlights njection moulding machine maker Arburg had more than 20 exhibits and a variety of applications such as multi-component technology, LSR and HTV processing, powder injection moulding, packaging, medical technology and optical applications, as well as the overmoulding of inserts, also using the hot melt process.
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Arburg showed 20 machines at its stand
It also showcased the new long-fibre direct injection moulding process, developed together with Süddeutsches Kunststoff-Zentrum SKZ in Würzburg, that allows inline feeding of fibres and melt, enabling longer fibres (30-50 mm) to be processed, with lower occurrences of fibre damage. This was shown on a Allrounder 820S that was moulding glass-filled PP automotive housings, with the glass rovings fed into the melt using a Coperion dual-shaft side feeder. Meanwhile, a 40-tonne Allrounder Golden Edition demonstrated another new process: particle-foam composite injection moulding, a joint project with 2
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