By Bob Lebeaux, President, The Plastics Group of America
October 30, 2009
For anyone who works in the industry yet occasionally gets confused by 2-, 3-, and 5-letter acronyms like LLDPE, The Plastics Group has a number of online resources that can help you. On our web site, you'll find pages that will enhance your knowledge of industry terms including a list of Common Acronyms for the Plastics Industry. We also offer Physical Property Data Sheets on our Polifil® and reprocessed line of resins. You'll also find current Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for all our products should you need product safety data. We also provide additional tools to help you including Common Terminology and Conversion Factors. We update these listings regularly, but, if you can’t find what you’re looking for among these reference materials, call us at 401-765-1000 and we promise to get you an answer to your question immediately.
By Bob Lebeaux, President, The Plastics Group of America
October 13, 2009 in Polypropylene
Myth: Using glass-filled materials will rapidly wear out molds and molding machines.
Fact: Once the resin is melted, the wear is not much higher than for mineral-filled materials. However, wear will be higher in material handling systems where pellets abrade the lines and hoppers. Thicker transfer lines and gentle radii on all bends will minimize this issue.
By Bob Lebeaux, President, The Plastics Group of America
October 7, 2009 in Polypropylene
Olefins, like polypropylene and polyethylene do not adhere to metals particularly well because of the non-polar nature of their base molecules. To significantly improve their ability to bond to metals, simply add polar copolymers. This can be done either in the reactor or by compounding with polymers with polar side-groups like acid copolymers such as EVA, EMA, and EMAA.
Polypropylene is available in maleated acid copolymer which has several percent maleic anhydride bonded onto the polymer chain.High temperatures and fast injection help to measurably enhance the bond. For other processes, such as coextrusion/lamination, the use of film-grade polar copolymers is well-established; they are often used to integrate a metallic component, such as aluminum foil barrier layers, into a multi-layer film structure.
By Bob Lebeaux, President, The Plastics Group of America
October 2, 2009
Myth: The surface appearance of parts molded from glass-filled PP is very poor.
Fact: Mold texture and careful molding techniques can provide a first-class part appearance. A combination of fast injection speeds, liberal venting, and elevated mold temperatures will dramatically improve results in any mold.
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