Processing of Polymers

• Increasing use of polymers

– Light, tough, corrosion resistant and cheap
– Price: Raw material + Processing
• Processing of “Solid” Polymers:
– Polymer heated to the melt state, shaped under high
pressure and cooled down to room temperature (below Tg
or Tm) to preserve its shape.
– Shaping involves shear, bulk and elongational
deformations of the polymer melt, which have different
viscoelastic characteristics.

From: Principles of Polymer Engineering (McCrum et al. 1995)

 Processing of Polymers

• Extrusion
– Films and sheets
– Fibers and filaments
– Pipes, tubing and profiles
– Wire coating
• Injection Molding
• Thermoforming
• Blow Molding
• Compression and Transfer Molding
 Extrusion

• Most common polymer processing (60% of world production).

• Manufactures an endless product of constant cross-section that

is cut, sawed, chopped, rolled or reduced to specific length.

• Two-part process including “plastication” and “shaping”

– Extruder converts a solid feedstock into a homogeneous melt and

pumps it through a die at a uniform rate.

– Following the die, a train of equipment ensures the extrudate

cools to the right shape with the required molecular orientation.
 Extrusion:
• Extruder: Plastication
– Cold polymer granules fed into a hopper and supplied to the screw by gravity
– Granules advance between the flights of the screw and the hot walls of the barrel
– As the polymer advances along the extruder, it becomes liquid
(by melting or by passing through the glass transition)
– The polymer becomes pressurized at it moves along the extruder,
so it can easily exit the extruder through a die.
 Extrusion:

Screw Parameters:
1) Zones (number, lengths, types)
2) Helix angle (φ)
3) Flight width (W)

A.) Conventional; B.) For “fragile” polymers; 4) Channel depth (H)

C.) PVC-type; D.) Nylon-type 5) Screw Length to Diameter ratio
 Extrusion:

• Shaping: Die shape dictates the nature of the

polymer product.
– Circular die: Melt spinning of fibers
– Slit die: Sheet casting
– Annular die:
• Film blowing
• Pipes (φ > 12 mm) and tubing (φ > 12 mm)
• Wire coating
 Extrusion:

• The Die-swell Issue: A polymer extrusion problem…

– Phenomenon: Swelling of the extrudate occurs at the die exit.
– Explanation: Polymer liquid is stressed as the cross section decreases
– Swelling is due to unrelaxed stresses (rubber elasticity).
– Swell ratio (DS/DC) depends on residence time in constrained region (die).
– Parameters which affect the swell ratio: LC, γ’, MW, T

DB DC DS
 Extrusion:

• Film Blowing
 Extrusion:

• Pipes and Tubing

 Extrusion:
• Wire Coating
 Extrusion: Die-swell Issue
Solution : 1) Keep die swelling phenomenon. Why?
2) Design die profile to account for die swelling.
2’) Use pull rolls to draw down extrudate.
 Injection Molding:
• Injection + Molding

Reciprocating-screw injection molding machines are the most

common (thermoplastics and thermosets).
Do we need to apply pressure during molding ? Why ?
 Injection Molding:
• Injection + Multiple Moldings

Cycle time: several seconds

to several minutes.
 Injection Molding:
• Gate Designs: Cause work to be done to make the liquid flow
through a small constriction, so T increases (η decreases).
– Important for homogenization
– Important for control of orientation
– Important for control of surfaces
 Injection Molding:
• Pressure, Temperature and Velocity Controls:
 Thermoforming
• Application for large formings, thin wall packaging, short-run or
prototype products. Much lower initial investment than injection molding.

With matched molds Pressure-bubble vacuum-snapback technique

 Blow Molding
• Blow molding is widely used for producing hollow containers in vast
numbers and cheaply.

• Three major variants:

– Extrusion-blow molding
– Injection-blow molding
– Stretch-blow molding

• Common features
– Formation of a precursor (hollow tube called a parison).
– One end of parison is closed, so it can be inflated in the heated, softened state.
– Inflation continues until parison touches the walls of the cooled mold.
– Mold is opened and bottle released.
Extrusion-Blow
Molding

• Four-step Process
– A) Extrusion of parison in open mold
– B) Mold closes and parison is inflated
– C) When parison reaches the walls of the mold, it is cooled
– D) The mold is open and the bottle released
 Injection-Blow Molding

• Three-steps at three stations

– A) Parison is injection molded on to a
steel rod.
– B) Parison is inflated by air and take
the shape of the mold.
– C) The mold opens and the bottle is
released.
 Compression and Transfer Molding

• Compression Molding
– Historically, the first technique for mass production
– Used currently only for cross-linked polymers
– Partially cross-linked polymer between two-halves of mold
Upper part of mold is lowered and polymer is compressed
Cross-linking reaction is completed under controlled P&T
Mold is open and product released
– Advantages:
Flow over shorter distances, thus less frozen-in stresses
Cheaper and easier mold design
Cheaper mold maintenance
 Compression and Transfer Molding
• Transfer Molding
– Measured charge of partially
cross-linked polymer is heated in
a pot, from which it is rammed
into a heated mold.
– Forcing polymer through a gate
leads to homogenization and
pressure increase and heating.
– Cross-linking is completed and
solidified sample released.
– Use for the production of
precision shapes (electronic
industry).