11012024 ‘Annealing of plastics [SubsTech)
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Unequalled Resistance And Durability.
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Knowledge source on Materials Engineering
to Polymers
Annealing of plastics
Dr. Dmitri Kopeliovich
Annealing of plastics is a heating of a polymeric part to below it’s glass transition temperature in order
to relieve the internal stresses introduced into the part during its fabrication (molding, cooling after
molding, machining, welding)/
In order to mold a plastic it is soften by heating and then forced into a cavity where it cools down and
shrinks. Non-uniform flowing of the soft plastic and non-uniform and relatively fast cooling result in a
formation of internal stresses, which may cause dimensional distortion of the part and even cracking.
Machining of the molded parts introduces additional internal stresses particularly if an improperly designed
tool is used or if the plastic part is locally overheated due to excessive cutting and feed speeds.
Drilling deep holes, uneven thickness reduction and screw thread cutting are the machining operations
producing internal stresses, which should be reduced by annealing
Some polymers (€.g. polycarbonate, polysolfone) are more susceptible to internal stress formation
+ Technology of plastics annealing
+ Annealing temperatures for plastics
Technology of plastics annealing
General annealing process includes the following stages:
= Placing the plastic part in an annealing oven.
+ Heating the part to the annealing temperature at a controlled rate. The heating rate is commonly not
greater than 50-100 F/hour (~30-60 °C/hour).
+ Holding the part at the annealing temperature for 2-4 hours per inch of thickness (except Polyamide-
imide (PAI), which is held for 3-10 days at the annealing temperature)
+ Cooling the part to the ambient temperature at a rate not exceeding 10-50 °F/hour (~6-30 °C/hour)
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There are three technique for annealing of plastics:
* Batch annealing. This is the most common annealing method. The process is performed in a batch
‘oven with forced convection. The plastic parts are placed on the shelves/racks. The main disadvantages
of the method are: batch type (non-continuous) process and a longer annealing operation due to the
restricted air flow.
+ Conveyorized Forced Hot Air Annealing (CFHA). CFHA is a continuous annealing process in which
the plastic parts are placed on the conveyor belt moving through a long tube like oven with forced hot
air convection. The heating process is much faster than In a batch oven. Additionally the continuous
character of the technique is preferable for the industrial implementation
+ Infrared annealing (IR). IR annealing also utilizes a continuous oven but heating method is different.
The plastic parts are heated not by hot air (like in CFHA) but the energy transmitted by infrared
radiation. This is the fastest heating method. However heating Is not always uniform: shadowed
portions of the part heat up slower.
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Annealing temperatures for plastics
[Annealing temperature
oF °e
200 93
180 82
320 160
350 177
[High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)| 250 12
Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) 275 135
Nylon 6 300 149
PEEK 375 191
[Polycarbonate (PC) 275 135
Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) | __175 79
Polyethylene UHMW 220 104
Polypropylene 185 85
Polysterene 170 77
[Polyamide-imide (PAT) 500 260
[Polysulfone 330 166
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Related internal links
= Polymer structure
= Glass transition
= Polymer materials (Introduction:
= Elastomers
= Thermoplastics
+ Thermosets
= Tribology of polymers
= Shore (Durometer) hardness test
= Methods of polymers fabrication
“substech com/okuwikfdoku, php?id-annealing_of plasticssrtoz021 ‘Annealing of plates (SubsTech)
+ Vulcanization of rubber
= Plastics recycling
= Combustion, pyrolysis and gasification of scrap tires
* Plastics welding
+ Adhesiv
+ Paints
+ Fluoropolymers
= Ion exchange resins
+ Annealing and stress relief
Related external links
http://www.boedeker.com/anneal.htm [http://www.boedeker.com/anneal.htm]
http://www-annealingplastics.com/ [http://www.annealingplastics.com/]
http://www.bayermaterialsciencenafta.com/faq_pcs/pdf/annealing_batch.pdf
http://www. bayermaterialsciencenafta.com/faq_pcs/pat/annealing_batch-pdf]
http://www.eastcoastmfg.com/plastic_annealing.htm [http://www.eastcoastmig.com/plasti
~_annealing htm]
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xcept where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
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annealing_o_plastics.b¢ + Last mosed: 2013/08/01 by dmitr|_kopelioven
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