Screws don’t really die; they just pass away to the scrap yard.

But you can learn a lot by

performing an “autopsy” on your screw before you heave it. Examining the carcasses of worn
or poor-performing screws can often uncover information that is difficult to determine with
the screw still in service. I call this process “forensic screw design.”
 

WHAT THE ‘CARCASS’ SAYS

Screws are seldom removed when they are performing at the expected performance level. So
become a forensic examiner yourself and carefully examine every screw when it is removed
to determine the telltale signs of its demise. The information in the “carcass” will usually
provide strong clues as to why there were performance issues and how they might be
corrected.

Areas of high wear on the screw flights can reveal either a design issue or an alignment
problem. If the flight has a burr on the trailing edge, it means the screw has a high, localized,
and unbalanced pressure that is forcing the screw aggressively to one side of the barrel. This
is causing the flight to gall with the barrel, and the flight is being distorted by the mechanical
pressure. This usually occurs in an area that is plugging with solids, causing very high
pressure on one side of the screw.

The solution would be more melting area in the design to relieve the plugging and pressure
point, or a design that balanced the pressure better. These extreme pressure points can show
up as surging output as these areas plug and unplug, as I mentioned in my May column on
surging.
If the flight has a burr on both sides, it usually indicates that the barrel is not properly aligned
or is bent, and the screw flight is simply being crushed as it is forced to rotate in a space that
is not concentric with the screw. Failure of the flight’s hard-surfacing material is always
suspected to be due to a poor weld but may in fact be due to either severe abrasion against the
barrel from a localized high-pressure area or flexing of the screw due to misalignment.

Wear on the flights or on a mixer at the screw tip indicates a bent barrel. Many times this is
due to a large, unsupported weight on the end of the barrel or misalignment of the front
support. Wear on the drive end before the start of the flights indicates that the feed throat is
not aligned properly with the drive quill. If the wear extends farther on to the early flights,
then both the barrel and feed throat may not be aligned with the drive quill.

Areas that have a blue tint to the screw metal indicate the screw is being subjected to a very
high temperature in that area, probably exceeding 750 F, which will result in a broad
temperature gradient in your extrudate. Again, that indicates that area is plugging with solids
and being exposed to very high shear stress or is being rubbed against the barrel with such
force that it is causing high frictional heat.

Heavy buildup of polymer on areas of the screw can indicate several things. It could suggest
an area of insufficient polymer flow, allowing material to stagnate and degrade. Or it could
indicate an extremely hot spot that causes polymer degradation. This could be caused by the
screw design or by problem with a heater/thermocouple on the barrel. Areas showing several
different colors of material buildup also indicate areas of low or stagnant flow. These can be
corrected by increasing the flow rate in these areas—usually by reducing the channel volume.
This is often an issue in the melt channel of barrier screws where the channel is too deep or
narrow.

Flights or other elements that appear “washed out” indicate an attack by hard contaminants or
fillers in the polymer. If the wash-out is localized, the wear rate can often be reduced by
allowing for lower flow rates in that area. At extremely high velocities, contaminants or
fillers work like an abrasive paste, cutting their own clearance.

The Cause of Catastrophic Screw Wear

Erratic feeding can be the culprit. This is not uncommon when dealing with recycled
material.

FIG 1: Areas of the screw that are full will develop pressure from the wedge action because
the solid polymer does not slide easily on the barrel wall. That results in unbalanced force on
the screw, which is pushed in the opposite direction against the barrel wall.

I frequently come across catastrophic wear when I’m examining screws used in a recycling
process. Recycling presents some issues not generally found in traditional extrusion
operations that rely on pelletized polymers, even when these conventional processes use high
percentages of regrind. That’s because the film, fiber, foam, or bottle scrap fed into recycling
extruders often has low bulk density and non-free-flowing characteristics. Whether the
extruder is fed by gravity or with a side feeder, crammer, or stuffer, there is always some
inconsistency in the feed uniformity due to the erratic characteristics of these feedstocks.

Most processors intuitively know how much force a screw jack or even a bolt can exert, but
they do not realize that the same principle applies to the extruder screw. The screw is actually
an inclined plane or wedge that’s wound spirally around a cylinder in a helical form. This
design creates an action just like a wedge and multiplies the force of the screw drive. For a
standard flight pitch, the multiplier is about four times the torque of the drive, not taking
friction into account.
The localized forces acting in a single-screw extruder are enormous when the polymer is still
in solid form. When the screw is fed inconsistently, it is alternately full and partially full at
different locations until compaction is fully completed farther down the screw. Areas that are
full will develop pressure from the wedge action, because solid polymer does not slide easily
on the barrel wall. That results in pressure in the polymer and an unbalanced force on the
screw. This pushes the screw in in the opposite direction and presses it against the barrel wall
with enormous force because of the small resisting area of the screw flight (see Fig 1).

Although these forces cannot be observed from outside the extruder, there is no question they
exist. Otherwise, how could you explain a screw that is worn over a short distance and yet
essentially unworn before and after that area. In order to wear in that pattern, the screw has to
bend over that distance. I recently investigated a case in which a 6-in. screw was
experiencing catastrophic wear in only three diameters near the end of the feed section (Fig.
2). I calculated the side force necessary to bend a shaft having that root diameter enough to
permit that amount of deflection: It was about 60,000 lb. And that was assuming no bending
support from the screw flights, which do greatly strengthen the screw in bending—meaning
the actual force was much more.

There are two types of “wedging.” There is a distinct difference between the wear caused by
erratic feeding and the wear due to insufficient melting capability. Wedging due to
inadequate feeding is generally contained to the feed section and first turn of the compression
section. On the other hand, wedging due to inadequate melting capacity can cause the
compression section (barrier section) to temporarily plug with solids and cause an unbalanced
force on the screw. That form of wedging is usually contained in the latter half of the
compression section. Melt-limited wedging causes accelerated wear but generally not
catastrophic wear, because the screw is filled and there is some support from the opposite
side, depending on the degree of melting.

Some operating  practices—such as manually dumping bales of film scrap into the hopper—
really accelerate the wear as the screw alternatively runs full and empty, causing large
moving side forces. Letting the screw run empty and then suddenly filling it at full speed will
have the same effect. Less severe but still very problematic are the use of feed-assist devices
such as crammers, stuffers, and side feeders that are not designed and/or operated properly.

If catastrophic wear is occurring in the feed section or early part of the compression section,
consider stabilizing the feed rate into the screw. This may require additional polymer
grinding or changes in design of the screw or any apparatus that assists in the feeding
recycled polymer into the screw.

As a guideline, when the feed rate into the screw is erratic there will be evidence in
continuous variation in the motor amps with a proportional change in head pressure at the
same frequency. The forces are so great that the use of premium screw and barrel materials
will only have a minor effect on the wear rate.
Introduction

Extruders are machines, which shape rubber to a profiled strip by forcing it through a die. In
the simplest form an extruder consists of four basic components viz.

1. a device system
2. a barrel
3. a ram or screw for forcing the rubber through the barrel and
4. a head holding the die which ultimately gives the desired shape.

Extruder drive system comprises of an AC or DC motor along with a reduction gear unit
using V-Belt drive for power transmission or connected directly using suitable couplings. The
extruder drive has to turn the extruder screw at the desired speed. It should be able to
maintain a constant screw speed because fluctuation in screw speed will result in throughput
fluctuation, which in turn will cause fluctuations in the dimensions of the extrudate.

The fundamental  distinction between two types of extruders is in mode of operation:

 Continuous: Delivers rubber in a continuous manner and has a rotating member or screw;
here the pressure is produced by a screw.
 Discontinuous: Delivers rubber in an intermittent fashion and has a reciprocating  ram or
screw, these type of extruders are ideally suited for batch type processes such as injection
moulding.

Ram Type Extruders

Barwell Ram Type Extruder

In ram extruders, a quantity of warm compound is placed into the cylinder, the die is attached
to cylinder and ram pushes the compound through the die to form a profiled section.

Advantages:

 Extrusion can be carried out at lower temperatures.

 Difficult compounds can be extruded.
 Easy to clean.
 Useful to short runs.
  Useful for compounds which need to be strained through gauge for quality products
requiring completely contamination free material .

Screw Type Extruders

A screw extruder consists of five components (a) drive system (b) a feed hopper ( c ) a screw
rotating within (d) a barrel (e) a head and die. The basic principle is that the screw carries
material from the feed hopper by acting as a conveyor or a hump providing pressure to
extrude or force the material along the machine barrel through the head and the die.

Screw Type Extruder With Description

 Feed hopper: the purpose of which is to receive material and pass it down to the flights of
the screw. It is mostly supplied in the form of strip.
 Barrel: within which the screw rotates, the usual clearance is approximately 0.40 mm.
Normally, the barrel is fitted with a detachable liner in the form of a sleeve which is highly
wear and corrosion resistant made of hardened steel . The barrel is made double walled for
steam or water circulation so that a constant temperature is maintained in the extruder
head.
 Screw: A conventional extruder screw has three geometrically different sections.
 o Feed section (closest to the feed opening) generally has deep flights and consists of
approximately 1/5th of the length of the screw. The material in this section will
mostly be in solid state.
o Metering section (closest to the die ) usually has shallow flights and consists of
approximately 2/5th of the length of the screw . The material in this section will
mostly be in molten state.
o The third section, which connects the feed section and the metering section, is
called as compression section. In going from feed section towards the metering
section, a compression of the material in the screw channel takes place, which is
essential for the proper functioning of extruders. The compression favors streamline
flow and helps to eliminate air and also ensures a constant pressure in the head.

Extruders are usually designated by the diameter of the extruder barrel. The ratio of
relative output of extruders varies as the square of the screw diameter . Thus the output of a
60 mm extruder will be 2.2 times that of a 40 mm machine.

An additional designation often used is the length to diameter (L/D) ratio. This is an
important factor in the selection of extruders to match process requirements. The length of a
rubber extruder depends on whether it is a hot feed or cold feed extruder.

Hot feed extruders are usually very short about 3D to 5D while cold feed ones range  from
12D to 20 D .

Screws are made of steel alloy forging, heat-treated to a machinable  hardness and hard-
chrome plated. The flight lands are surface hardened to approximately 600 Brinnel. The
screw is internally bored to facilitate water-cooling.

 Head: the purpose of which is to equalise the pressure from the screw and barrel and to
transport the compound smoothly at equal pressures and speed to the die.
 Die: The purpose of which is to give the compound the desired shape. The extrudates shrink
along their length and increase in thickness and width, the behaviour being termed “ die
swell “ which depends upon (i) rheological characteristics compound  (ii) shape of head and
extrudate (iii) pressure in the head (iv) the head and compound temperatures .

The  extruder is operated in such  a manner so that temperature is gradually more from feed
to discharge, the die being the hottest part.

Cross Head Extruder

This is used to cover hose, wires, tyre bead wire and the extruder function here remains same
as for regular extruder and cold feed type is preferred. The extruder barrel, screw and head
can be heated / cooled to desired temperature. The material to be coated comes at 90° angle to
the extruder screw system, and rubber thus makes a 90° turn.

In the conventional screw extruder, the rubber compound is conveyed in three states, as solid,
then as a mixture of solid and melt and finally, as a melt. The movement of the material in the
barrel is the resultant of four flow mechanisms. The two of these are the drag flow and
transverse flow.
The drag flow results due to the forward conveying action of the material towards the die,
produced by the relative motion between the screw and the barrel while the transverse flow
results in a circulatory flow which is important for heat transfer and mixing but is not
contributing directly to the  extruder output.