I think it’s safe to say that not many people know about the process of plastic extrusion. Thanks to intelligent and inventive workers in the field, it has become a relatively easy thing to become good at. There is fine machinery working together in order to cultivate your roll of tape, or the frame of your window. Without plastic manufacturing, many things that we take for granted could not be made nearly as efficiently or effectively. Studying plastic extrusion has been a real treat! I’ve also been sharing what I’ve learned researching the subject with others around me. So little is known about something so common!

The first thing you need in the extrusion of plastics is a raw material by the name of thermoplastic. It’s important that you get this material in the form of small beads. In my on-site research of plastic extrusion, I have learned several different words from the industry’s lingo! The raw thermoplastic in this form is popularly referred to as “resin.”

After obtaining the resin, the next order of business is to fill up the part of the machine called the barrel. Often, this is done with a hopper. You’ve probably seen a hopper before and you just didn’t know that’s what it was called. It’s a sort of truck that can slowly tilt upwards, allowing an effective feeding of the plastic resin into the barrel. Before placing the resin in the hopper, a specialist will usually add different colors in order to make the final window panels more desirable.

Once a specialist operates the hopper, successfully feeding the resin into the barrel, it meets what is called a “feedthroat.” All a feedthroat essentially is, is an opening at the rear bottom of the barrel. The resin travels through the feedthroat and it meets an industrial-sized screw. The screw pushes the resin at generally 120 rpm back into the barrel, which then begins to gradually heat itself.

Your typical industrial plastic extruder will come complete with cooling fans. The cooling fans aid in keeping the temperature below the degree that the specialists input at the start of the process. Also, the industrial screw is quite a complex piece of machinery. There are five possible zones in the screw, but since the jargon isn’t international, you will sometimes a couple of different names for them.

The now completely molten plastic travels down the length of the screw. At this point in the process, the plastic has to travel through several compact screens. This is for the sole purpose of clearing up anything that may have contaminated it. Holding up the screens, is a device called a “breaker plate.” This is shaped much like a hockey puck, with holes drilled into it.

A truly grand finale for this plastic extrusion process (except of course, the cooling) is what happens next. The liquid plastic travels from the screens to the die. The die is such an important part of the machinery, mostly due to the fact that it gives the plastic it’s shape. Relying solely on the company and what the final product will turn out to be, the die shapes the plastic.

It’s very important to note that at this step in the plastic extrusion process, one should be extra careful that the flow of molten plastic is steady. This is due to the fact that there is a risk of putting unattractive marks and stresses into the profile of your final product. Believe me, nobody wants this, because if they’re too noticeable they may have to be thrown away.

Finally, we move on from the machine to the cooling process. This is where specialists from the plastic companies really come in handy. Plastic Products can be really difficult to cool down, as plastic is an excellent thermal insulator. Plastic Extrusion is quite an interesting process, it’s amazing how many things can come from it!

- Elijah Mort

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