POLYMER PROCESSING

SPRING 2015
VI Semester BE (Chemical Engineering Plastics)

EXTRUSION INTRODUCTION
Extruders are the heart of polymer processing industry.
Extrude means to push or to force out. (eg., toothpaste is squeezed out of a tube, it
is extruded).
The part of the machine containing the opening through which the material is
forced is referred to as extruder die.
As the material passes through the die, the material acquires the shape of the die
and the extruded product is referred to as extrudate.
Materials can be extruded in the molten state or in the solid state.
Generally, polymers are extruded in the molten state, but in some applications
involve solid state extrusion of polymers.
If the polymer is fed to the extruder in the solid state and the material is melted as
it is conveyed by the extruder screw from the feed port to die is called plasticating
extrusion. In this case, it performs additional function namely melting besides
regular extrusion function.
Extruder is fed with molten polymer and called melt fed extrusion and it purely
acts as a pump developing the necessary pressure to force the polymer melt
through the die.

EXTRUSION HISTORY
First machine for extrusion of thermoplastic materials was built around 1935 by
Paul Troester in Germany.
After 1935, extruders evolved to electrically heated screw extruders.
Around this time, the basic principle of intermeshing co-rotating twin screw
extruder was developed by Roberto Colombo.
Then, Pasquetti developed a different concept of intermeshing counter-rotating
twin screw extruder.

Generally in extrusion, material is softened or melted and forced out under

pressure through an orifice that shapes the extrudate to a desired profile or crosssection.

TYPES OF EXTRUDER
In polymer industry, extruders come in many different designs.
Main difference between various extruders is their mode of operation; continuous or
discontinuous.
Continuous extruder are capable of developing steady, continuous flow of material. It
utilizes a rotating member for transport of material.
The batch type or discontinuous extruder operates in a cyclic fashion and it generally have
a reciprocating member for the transport of material.
CLASSIFICATION OF POLYMER EXTRUDERS
Screw Extruder (Continuous)
Single screw extruder Melt fed or plasticating, single stage or Multi stage.
Multi screw extruder Twin screw extruder, Gear pump.
Disk or Drum Extruder (Continuous)
Viscous drag type extruder Spiral disk, drum, diskpack and stepped disk extru.
Elastic melt extruder Screwless extruder and screw/disk extruder
Reciprocating Extruder (Discontinuous)
Ram extruder melt fed and plasticating extruder
Reciprocating screw extruder plasticating unit in molding m/cs and
compounding extruder

SINGLE SCREW EXTRUDER

It is the most important type of extruder used in the polymer industry.
Advantages are relatively low cost, straightforward design, reliability and
favorable performance/cost ratio.
Conventional extruder have three geometrically different sections such as feed,
compression and metering section.
First section generally has deep flights and it is closest to the feed opening where
the material will be mostly in solid state is termed as Feed section.
Last section usually has shallow flights and it is closest to the die where the
material will be mostly in molten state is termed as Metering section.
The section between feed and metering is called transition or compression section
where the depth of the screw channel reduces in a linear fashion from the feed
towards the metering section, thus causing a compression of the material in the
screw channel.
Compression section is essential to the proper functioning of the extruder.
Extruder is usually designated by the diameter of the extruder barrel ie., 20, 25 30,
35, .600 mm.

SINGLE SCREW EXTRUDER

Another designations are length to diameter ratio (L/D) which is typically range
from 20 to 30 with 24 being very common.
L/D ratio = length of flighted screw / Outside diameter of screw
Compression ratio = Depth of feed / Depth of metering

STANDARD EXTRUDER SCREW

Total length = 20D 30D
Length of feed section = 4D 8D
Length of metering section = 6D 10D
No. of parallel flights = 1
Flight pitch = 1D (helix angle = 17.66
Flight width = 0.1D
Channel depth in feed section = 0.10D 0.15D
Majority of the extruder screw in use today have the general characteristics listed
above.

BASIC OPERATION
Material enters from the feed hopper by gravity down into the extruder barrel. Some
materials will not flow easily in dry form and special care have to be taken to prevent
bridging of the material in the feed hopper.
In the barrel, it is situated in the annular space between the extruder screw and barrel
where the barrel is stationery and the screw is rotating. As a result, frictional forces will
act on the material. These frictional forces are responsible for the forward transport of
the material, atleast as long as the material is in the solid state.
As the material moves forward, it will heat up as a result of frictional heat generation
and heat conduction from barrel heaters.
The depth of the screw channel is reduced along the length of the screw so as to
compact the material.
Temp. of the mtl. exceeds the melting point, a melt film will be form at the barrel
surface where the plasticating zone starts.
As the material moves forward, the amount of solid mtl. at each location will reduce as
a result of melting. When all solid polymers disappeared, the end of plasticating zone
has been reached.
Next, in melt conveying zone, the polymer melt is simply pumped to the die to produce
an extrudate of the desired cross-sectional shape.

BASIC OPERATION
Since the die exerts a resistance to flow, a pressure is required to force the material
through the die. It is termed as die head pressure.
The die head pressure is determined by the shape of the die, the temp. of the polymer
melt, flow rate through the die and the rheological properties of the polymer melt.
The pressure build-up which occurs along a screw

The lengths of the zones on a particular screw depend on the material to be extruded.
With nylon, for example, melting takes place quickly so the compression of the melt
can be performed in one pitch of the screw.
PVC on the other hand is very heat sensitive and so a compression zone which covers
the whole length of the screw is preferred.

VENTED EXTRUDER
Some extruders also have a venting zone.
Some plastics are hygroscopic in nature - they absorb moisture from the atmosphere, hence
vented extruders are necessary.
If these materials are extruded wet in conventional equipment the quality of the output is not
good due to trapped water vapour in the melt.
Vented barrels were developed to overcome these problems.
In the first part of the screw, the granules are taken in and melted, compressed and homogenised
in the usual way.
The melt pressure is then reduced to atmospheric pressure in the decompression zone.
This allows the volatiles to escape from the melt through a special port in the barrel.
The melt is then conveyed along the barrel to a second compression zone which prevents air
pockets from being trapped.

TWIN SCREW EXTRUDER

It is a extruder with two screws rotating in a heated barrel.
Variety of twin screw extruders with vast differences in design, principle of operation and field
of application.
Twin screw construction increases the number of design variables such as direction of rotation,
degree of intermeshing etc.,
A general classification of twin screw extruders are:
Intermeshing Extruder : Co-rotating and Counter-rotating.
Non-Intermeshing Extruder : Co-rotating and Counter-rotating.
The screws can co-rotate, in which case the screws have helix angles in the same direction
(either right-handed or left-handed), or counter-rotate, in which case, the screws have opposite
helix angles.
The screws can be non-intermeshing or intermeshing, that is, the flight of one screw penetrates
into the channel of the other.
In co-rotating fully intermeshing twin screw, the channel may be continuous, with a smooth
transition of material from the channel of one screw to that of the other screw. It is used where
mild to intensive compounding must be done. It is well suited for heat sensitive materials.
In counter-rotating twin screw extruder, the material is effectively squeezed between counterrotating rolls.

TWIN SCREW EXTRUDER

Twin screw extruders permit a wider range of possibilities in terms of output rates, mixing
efficiency, heat generation, etc compared with a single screw extruder.
Disadvantage is complex flow pattern & difficult to describe.

MULTI SCREW EXTRUDER with more than two screws

Eg., is Planetary roller extruder. It is similar to single screw extruder. The feed section is same
as on a single screw extruder. The mixing section looks different.
In this extruders, six or more planetary screws evenly spaced revolve around the circumference
of the main screw.
Main screw refers to as sun screw & the planetary screws intermesh with the sun screw & barrel.
The barrel section must have helical grooves corresponding to the helical flights.
This barrel section is generally a separate barrel section with a flange type connected to the feed
barrel section.
In feed section, the mtl. Moves forward as in a regular single screw extruder. As the mtl.
Reaches planetary section, it is exposed to intensive mixing by the rolling action b/w the
planetary screws, sun screw and the barrel.
Sometimes it also used as add-ons to regular extruders to improve mixing performance.
The helical design of screws & barrel provides large surface are relative to the barrel length
resulting in effective de volatilization, heat exchange and temp. control. Thus heat sensitive
compounds can be processed with minimum of degradation. (eg., extrusion of PVC formulations)

DISKPACK EXTRUDER
These type of extruders do not utilize an screw for transport of the material.
These are referred to as screwless extruders.
These m/cs employ some kind of disk or drum to extrude the material.
Material drops in the axial gap b/w relatively thin disks mounted on a rotating shaft.
The mtl. will move with the disk almost a full turn, then it meets the channel block.
The channel block deflects the polymer flow to either an outlet channel or to transfer channel in
the barrel.

DRUM EXTRUDER
Mtl. Is fed by a feed hopper into an annular space b/w rotor & barrel.
By the rotation of the rotor, the mtl. Is carried along the circumference of the barrel.
Before the mtl. Reaches the hopper, it encounters a wiper bar, this deflects the polymer flow into
a channel that leads to the extruder die.

ELASTIC MELT EXTRUDER

The extruder makes use of the viscoelastic property of polymer melts.
In the elastic melt extruder, the polymer is sheared between two plats, one stationery and one
rotating.
As the polymer is sheared, normal stresses will generate a centripetal pumping action. Thus the
polymer can be extruded through the central opening in the stationary plate in a continuous
manner.

RAM EXTRUDER
Ram or plunger extruders are simple in design & discontinuous in their mode of operation.
They are able to generate very high pressures.
Limitations for switch to reciprocating screw extruders are: limited melting capacity, poor temp
uniformity of polymer melt.
Used in relatively small shot size molding machines and outstanding pressure generation
capability is needed.
Two types of ram extruders are: Single ram and Multi Ram.
SINGLE and MULTI RAM EXTRUDER
It is used in small general purpose molding m/c but also in some special polymer processing
operations such as Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene & polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
These polymers are not considered to be melt processable on conventional melt processing
equipment.
Ram are used to mold UHMWPE under very high pressure. The m/c uses a reciprocating plunger
that densifies the cold incoming mtl with a pressure upto 300 Mpa.
The mtl is forced to heated channels into the heated cylinder where final melting takes place.
The mtl is then injected into the mold by injection ram.
Another application is the extrusion of PTFE material with very high pressure is required.
The main disadvantage are discontinuous o/p. Hence multi ram extruder are developed.

RAM EXTRUDER
In this type, the two rams discharge mtl into a common barrel in which plasticating shaft is
rotated.
The m/c is able to extrude but the throughput uniformity is poor.

MAIN ELEMENTS OF EXTRUDER-HOPPER

Feed hopper (a metallic cylinder with a converging section) feeds the granular material to the
extruder screw.
In most cases, the mtl will flow by gravity, but in some cases it will not flow steadily eg. Bulk
materials which has very poor flow characteristics.
In such cases, vibrator pad an additional device is attached to the hopper & stirrers are used to
mix the mtl & wipe the mtl when sticks to the wall. (Eg., Crammer Feeder).
Mtl with low bulk density tends to entrap air, so it will affect the product & sometimes small
explosions when the air escapes from the die. Hence Vacuum feed hopper is used.

MAIN ELEMENTS - BARREL AND FEED THROAT

The extruder barrel is the cylinder that surrounds the screw.
The feed throat is the section of the extruder barrel where the mtl is introduced into the screw, it
fits around the first few flights of the screw.
Shape of the feed throat is usually circular or square. Geometry of feed throat is such that mtl
flow with minmium restriction.
Smooth transition from feed hopper to feed throat will occur if the cross sectional shape of the
hopper is the same as the shape of the feed opening.
Different feed port designs are: a) is the usual feed port. B) shows an undercut feed port
commonly used on melt fed extruders. The wedge section between screw and feed opening
causes problem when the melt is relatively stiff or highly elastic, significant lateral forces will act
on the screw, hence deflect the screw and force it against the barrel surface. It will be more
severe when it is used for feed solid polymer.
C) It has an undercut to improve the intake capability and the wedge is eliminated by a flat
section.

MAIN ELEMENTS-BARREL AND FEED THROAT

Barrel is a flanged cylinder and has to withstand high pressure of about 70MPa and should
posses good structural rigidity to minimize deflection.
It is preferably made with wear resistant inner surface to increase the service life. Common
techniques are nitriding and bimetallic alloying.
Sometimes, extruders are equipped with grooved barrel section. The depth of the grooves varies
with axial distance. The depth is maximum at the start and reduces to zero where it meets with
the smooth extruder barrel.
Important requirement in the feed section design are: Very good cooling capability, Good
thermal barrier b/w feed section and barrel and Large pressure capability.
Large amt of frictional heat generated, hence good cooling is required. To minimize the heat
flow from the barrel to the feed section, hence thermal barrier is required. Large pr. Will be
generated in the grooved barrel section.

MAIN ELEMENTS-BREAKER PLATE AND SCREEN

The output end of the barrel is provided with breaker plate and screen pack b/w barrel and die
assembly.
The breaker plate is a thick metal disk with many closely spaced parallel holes, parallel to the
screw axis.
The reasons for using breaker plate is 1) to arrest the spiraling motion of the melt and to force
the polymer melt in a straight line. 2) is to put screen infront of the breaker plate as it acts as a
support for the screens.
Screens are generally used for filtering contaminants out of the polymer. The coarsest screen
(lowest mesh number) is usually placed against the breaker plate for support with successively
finer screens placed against it. A typical screen pack is one 100 mesh followed by 60 mesh and
one 30 mesh screen.
It also assist the build up of back pressure which improves mixing along the screw.

MAIN ELEMENTS-BREAKER PLATE AND SCREEN

EXTRUDER HEATING & COOLING SYSTEMS

Extruder heating is required for bringing the m/c setup to the proper temp for start up & for
maintaining the desired temp under normal conditions.
Three types of heating extruders: Electric heating, Fluid heating and Steam heating.
Electric heating: It has advantage over fluid and steam heating as it can cover a much larger
temp range, clean, easy to maintain, low cost, efficient etc.,
Electrical heaters are normally placed along the extruder barrels grouped in zones. Small
extruders will have two to four zones, while large extruders have five to ten zones.
Each zones is controlled independently, so that a temp profile can be maintained along the
extruder.
Two types of Electrical heaters: Resistance heating and Induction heating
Resistance heating: Most common barrel heaters. It works on the principle, that if a current is
passed through a conductor a certain amount of heat is generated, depending on the resistance of
the conductor.
Early band heaters used a resistance wire insulated with mica strips and encased in flexible sheet
steel covers. These are compact and low cost, but they are also fragile, not very reliable and have
limited power density. Maxi loading is about 50 kW/m2 and maxi temp about 500 deg C. The
efficiency and its life of heaters are determined by the contact b/w the heater and the barrel over
the entire contact area. Improper contact will have local overheating will result in reduced heater
life.

EXTRUDER HEATING & COOLING SYSTEMS

Ceramic band heaters generally last much longer than the mica heaters and they can withstand
higher power densities upto 160 kW/m2 and temp to 750 deg C. The disadvantage is that they are
not flexible and tend to be bulky. They usually come in halves that have to be bolted together
around the extruder barrel.
In Cast-in heater, the heating elements are cast in semi-circular or flat aluminium blocks. The
heat transfer of this heater is very good. It is reliable and gives good service life. Cast aluminium
heaters have power density of 55 kW/m2 and temp of 400 deg C. Bronze castings has power
density of 80 kW/m2 and temp of about 550 deg C.
INDUCTION heating: An alternating electric current is passed through a primary coil that
surrounds the extruder barrel. The AC causes an alternating magnetic field of the same
frequency. This magnetic field induces an electromotive force in the barrel, causing eddycurrents.
The depth of heating reduces with frequency. At normal frequencies of 50 or 60 Hz, the depth is
approximately 25mm which is similar to the thickness of a typical extruder barrel.
The heat is generated quite evenly throughout the depth of the barrel as opposed to resistance
type barrel heaters.
The advantage is reduced time lag in power input changes and Local overheating because of
poor contact does not occur. Power consumption is low due to efficient heating and reduced heat
losses.
The disadvantage of this heating system is its high cost.

EXTRUDER HEATING & COOLING SYSTEMS

FLUID heating allows even temp over the entire heat transfer area avoiding local overheating.
The maxi operating temp of most fluids is relatively low generally below 250 deg C.
It requires considerable space, installation and operating expenses are high.
Another drawback is that if several zones need to be maintained at different temp several
independent fluid heating systems are required. Hence expensive, bulky and ineffective.
STEAM heating is rarely used on extruders anymore, although most of the very early extruders
were heated by this way. Steam is a good heat transfer fluid because of its high specific heat.
However, it is difficult to increase the temp to sufficiently high temp 200 deg C and over as
required in extrusion. Very high steam is required.
Disadvantages are bulkiness, chance of leakage, corrosion, heat losses etc.,

EXTRUDER HEATING & COOLING SYSTEMS

Extruder cooling is necessary in most extruder operations. In all cases, cooling should be
minimized as much as possible or eliminated altogether.
Extruder cooling reduces the energy efficiency of the process. As well as it does not contribute
to the overall power requirement and the energy extracted by cooling is wasted.
If extrusion process required cooling, it is usually a strong indication of improper process design
such as improper screw design, excessive L/D ratio or incorrect choice of extruder.
Generally extrusion process is designed such that the majority of the total energy requirement is
supplied by the extruder drive. The rotation of the screw causes frictional and viscous heating of
the polymer, which constitutes a transformation of mechanical energy into thermal energy to
raise the temp of the polymer. The mechanical energy generally contributes 70 to 80 % of the
total energy and the extruder heaters contribute only 20 to 30 %, discounting any losses.
Majority of the energy supplied by the screw, hence there is a chance that local internal heat
generation in the polymer is higher than required to maintain the desired process temp. Thus
some form of cooling is required. Hence forced air cooling by blowers are used.
Some extruders operate without any forced cooling or heating. It is referred as autogenous
extrusion process.
It is a process where the heat required is supplied entirely by the conversion of mechanical
energy into thermal energy.
But in practical autogenous extrusion does not occur often because it required a delicate balance
b/w polymer properties, m/c design and operating conditions.

EXTRUDER HEATING & COOLING SYSTEMS

Change in any of these factors will generally cause a departure from autogenous conditions.
Hence most of the extruders are designed to have a reasonable amount of energy input from
external barrel heaters.
On the other hand, energy input from barrel heaters should not be too large as polymers have a
low thermal conductivity, raising the polymer temp by external heaters is a slow process and
involves large temp gradients. The combination of high temp and long heating times makes for a
high chance of degradation. Hence viscous heat generation is much more favorable as well as
polymer is heated relatively uniformly throughout its mass.. Thus, one would generally want the
mechanical energy input to be more than 50% of the total energy requirement but less than 90%.
Air cooling is a fairly gentle type of cooling and change in temp occurs gradually, because heat
transfer rates are relatively small. But when intensive cooling is required, it is not good. With
water cooling, a rapid and steep change in temp will occur. From control point of view, water
cooling is difficult to handle. Grooved barrel sections will require intense cooling hence water
cooling is used.
Finally, it should be always be remember, that
Cooling is a waste of energy and should be
Minimized as much as possible.

SCREW HEATING & COOLING

Most extruders do not use screw cooling or heating they run with a so called neutral screw.
If external heating or cooling requirements are minor, then screw heating or cooling is not
necessary, but the requirements are substantial, then this becomes very important, sometimes
necessary.
Heating or cooling of the screw is difficult because screw is in motion. Hence rotary unions, slip
rings or other devices to transfer energy in or out of the extruder screw are used.
Water cooling can be done without the use of rotary union. It involves running some copper
tubing down into the bore of the extruder screw and connecting a water supply to the copper tube.
In some cases, screw cooling is used to improve pressure generating capability of the screw.
The screw is cooled all the way into the metering section and freezes the polymer close to the
screw or increases the viscosity of the polymer melt close to the screw surface and it reduces the
effective channel depth of the screw and can result in improved pressure generating capacity. But
this determines the strong indication that the design of extruder screw is incorrect.
Screw heating sometimes done with cartridge heaters located in the bore of the screw. Power is
supplied to the heater by slip rings on the shank of the screw.

THRUST BEARING ASSEMBLY

Thrust bearing assembly is usually located at the point where the screw shank connects with the
output shaft of the drive, which is generally the output shaft of the gear box.
It is required because the extruder generally develops substantial die head pressure in the
polymer melt. This die head pressure is necessary to push the polymer melt through the die at the
desired rate.
However, since action = reaction, this pressure will also act on the extruder screw and force it
towards the feed end of the extruder.
Therefore thrust bearing capability has to be available to take up the axial forces acting on the
screw.
The actual force on the screw is obtained by multiplying the diehead pressure with the cross
sectional area of the screw.
For eg., a 150mm extruder running with a die head pressure of 35 Mpa will experience an axial
thrust of about 620 kN. Hence significant forces are acting on the screw and proper design and
dimensioning of the thrust bearing is required to the trouble free operation of the extruder.
Thrust bearings are designed to last a certain number of revolutions at a certain thrust load.
Under normal operating conditions and die head pressure, the thrust bearing will generally last
as long as the life of the extruder.
However, if sharp fluctuations in die head pressure occurs, the life of bearing can reduce
dramatically.
Thrust bearing assembly consists of four or five roller bearings.

THRUST BEARING ASSEMBLY

Extruder manufacturers often give the rated life of thrust bearing as a B-10 life. Ie 10 out of 100
identical group of bearing will fail before rated life.

EXTRUDER DRIVES
Extruder drives are used to turn the extruder screw at the desired speed.
It should be able to maintain a constant screw speed because fluctuations in screw speed will
result in throughput fluctuations which in turn cause fluctuations in the dimensions of the
extrudate.
The drive also able to supply the required amount of torque to the shank of the extruder.
Another requirement is the ability to vary the speed over a relatively wide range from almost
zero to maximum screw speed.
Main drive systems employed on extruders are: AC motor drive system, DC motor drive system
and hydraulic drives.
AC motor drive system used on extruders are adjustable transmission ratio drive and adjustable
frequency drive.
Adjustable transmission ratio drive can be either mechanical adjustable speed drive using belt or
chain drives or electric friction clutch drive.
Adjustable frequency drive uses an AC squirrel cage induction motor connected to a solid state
power supply capable of providing an adjustable frequency to the AC motor.
DC motor drive uses fixed AC motors to drive DC generators that produce the variable voltage
for the DC motor.
Hydraulic drive generally consists of a constant speed AC motor driving a hydraulic pump
which in turn drives hydraulic motor and associated controls.

EXTRUDER DRIVES - REDUCER

With AC or drives, a reducer is generally required to match the low speed of the screw to the
high speed of the drive. Reduction ratio generally ranges from 15:1 to 20:1.
Most frequently used is the spur gear reducer.

EXTRUDER SCREW
Extruder screw is the heart of the machine.
The rotation of the screw causes forward transport, contributes to a large extent to the heating of
the polymer, and causes homogenization of the material.
Simply, Screw is a cylindrical rod of varying diameter with a helical flights wrapped around it.
The outside diameter of the screw is constant on most extruders.
Clearance between screw and barrel is usually small, generally the ratio of radial clearance to
screw diameter is around 0.001.
Common screw material is 4140 steel, which is medium carbon and relatively low cost. Some of
other materials are Low carbon steel, Stainless steel, Tool steel, Nickel base and hardfacing
material (stellite).

EXTRUDER SCREW GEOMETRY

EXTRUDER SCREW GEOMETRY

Helix angle is the function of the diameter and hence is different at the base of the flight than at
the flight tip.
The radial distance between the barrel surface and the root of the screw is the channel depth.
The width of the channel, W is the perpendicular distance between the flights.
Geometry of the flight along the screw surface can be constructed by unrolling the flight on a
flat plane.
On a flat surface, the flight along the screw surface will form a right triangle.
It should be noted that the helix angle at the OD of the screw is different from the helix angle at
the root of the screw.
The base of the triangle is one half of the flight pitch and the height of the triangle is half the
circumference of the screw surface.

EXTRUDER SCREW GEOMETRY

The screw geometry is usually represented by straight flights.

EXTRUDER SCREW GEOMETRY

MODIFICATIONS OF SCREW
Standard screw with additional flight in feed section: Forces acting on the screw are
balanced, thus screw deflection is less likely to occur.
To smooth out the pressure fluctuations caused by the flight interrupting the inflow of material
from feed hopper every revolution of the screw.
Negative side is reduces the cross sectional area thus solid conveying rate will be reduced.

Variable pitch extruder with increasing pitch: Pitch increases with axial distance of the
screw.
The varying pitch allows the use of locally optimum helix angle, ie. Helix angle for solid
conveying and helix angle for melt conveying.
Used for high sensitive material. As well as power consumption is reduced by increasing the
helix angle.
Negative side is deflection of screw is more.

MODIFICATIONS OF SCREW
Variable pitch screw with reducing pitch: Pitch decreased with axial distance.
It causes a lateral compression of the material in the screw channel, so normal compression in
the screw is eliminated.
Same channel depth throughout the entire length of the screw.
Negative side is reducing the helix angle, so increases the power consumption.
It works on high clearance b/w flight and barrel, hence it reduces the melting capacity.

Zero meter screw: Used to reduce the temp. build up in the material.
Disadvantage is pressure generating capability of the screw will be affected. (not a major
concern in the injection molding)
It is more appropriate for an injection molding machine.

MODIFICATIONS OF SCREW
Zero feed Zero meter screw: It consists of only a compression section.
Hence gradual compression of the material takes place.
Used especially for Nylon processing.
It also reduces air entrapment, pressure and output fluctuations and improved extrudate quality.

Rapid compression screw: Length of compression zone is generally less than 1D in these
screws.
Unfortunately, it is referred to as Nylon screw.
This is a major misconception in screw design and the success of zero feed zero meter with
nylon should make that quite clear.
Nylon has a narrow melting range and relatively low viscosity.

MODIFICATIONS OF SCREW
Decompression screw: Final portion of screw has a deep channel section following a
decompression section.
Channel depth is constant over the last screw section.
Effective power reduction can be obtained by changing the channel depth, helix angle, flight
width and radial clearance.
Negative side is pressure generating capability will reduce.

Devolatizing extruder screw: Used to extract volatiles from the polymer.

MODIFICATIONS OF SCREW
Multi-flighted screw: Increase the melting performance.
Reduce the screw deflection.
Adversely affects the solid conveying and melt conveying rate, so multiple flights to be
incorporated only a particular section of the screw.
Negative side is power consumption is more.

EXTRUDER DIE
The flow of polymer melt through the die requires knowledge of the viscoelastic behavior of the
polymer melt.
Polymer melt can no longer be considered a purely viscous fluid because elastic effects in the
die region are very important.
The objective of the extrusion die is to distribute the polymer melt in the flow channel such that
the material exists from the die with a uniform velocity.
The actual distribution will be determined by the flow properties of the polymer, flow channel
geometry, flow rate through the die, and the temp field in the die.
Flow channel geometry is optimized for one polymer under one set of conditions, a simple
change in flow rate or in temp can make the geometry non-optimum.
For this reason, adjustment capabilities into the die are generally incorporated by which the
distribution can be changed externally while the extruder is running.
The flow distribution is generally changed in two ways: by changing the flow channel geometry
by means of choker bars, restrictor bars, valves etc., and by changing the die temp.
In die design, problems often occur because the product designer has little or no appreciation for
the implications of product design on the ease or difficulty of extrusion.
Small changes in design can drastically improve the extrudability of the product.

EXTRUDER DIE
Basic guidelines in profile design to minimize extrusion problems are:
Use internal and external radii on all corners
Maintain uniform wall thickness
Avoid very thick walls
Minimize the use of hollow sections
The extrusion dies will be divided into Film & sheet dies, pipe and tubing dies, blown film dies,
profile dies and coextrusion die.
Design of the extrusion head, regardless of its purpose, should take into account the following
general requirements:
Ensuring proper polymer flow in the flow channels so as to obtain required shape and
dimensions of the extrudate,.
Preventing polymer stagnation areas in the extrusion head by ensuring proper shape and
geometric characteristics of the flow channels and ensuring adequate polymer flow resistance,
Ensuring adequate strength of specific design elements of the extrusion head and their
connections in high pressure and temperature conditions,
Protecting surfaces of the flow channels against aggressive impact of some polymers,
Providing the possibility of adjustment of polymer flow rate from the extrusion head die.
Considering the polymer flow direction with regard to the axis of the extrusion head main body,
the types of extrusion heads are: longitudinal, angular, transverse and spiral extrusion heads. The
spiral extrusion heads can be made as longitudinal as well as transverse ones.

EXTRUDER DIE Film and Sheet die

Dies for flat film is same as the dies for sheet extrusion.
The difference between sheet and film is the thickness (less than 0.5mm are referred as film,
while more than 0.5mm as sheet).
Film and sheet dies are classified into T-shaped die, coat hanger die and fish tail die.
The biggest problem connected with the extrusion heads for flat sheet and film is to ensure
uniform polymer flow rate at the whole width of the die that may amount to as much as 4500
mm.
In the extrusion head, the shape of the polymer stream cross-section is changed from a circular
one into a rectangular one of a very large ratio.
Flow system of the extrusion head for flat sheet and film consists of the inlet channel, the
distributing channel and the die.
The inlet channel is a geometrically simple channel of a circular cross-section and a length
approximately equal to a half of the extrusion head length. Polymer supplied from the plasticizing
system flows through the channel.
The distributing channel is situated symmetrically on both sides of the inlet channel. The
channel consists of two or three sections i.e. main distributing channel, auxiliary distributing
channel and relaxation distributing channel.
Main distributing channel is most frequently a conical-symmetrical channel, linearly convergent
channel, parabolically or hyperparabolically convergent channel. However, the last one is very
rarely used at present.

EXTRUDER DIE Film and Sheet die

Shape of the main distributing channel cross-section is circular or close to circular.
Auxiliary distributing channel has a shape very similar to the shape of the extrusion head die. It
is in the channel where proper formation of polymer flow takes place as well as polymer
stabilization and equalization of temperature of flowing polymer occur.
Reduction of pressure difference between the furthest points from the main distributing channel
axis and the points closest to the channel of polymer pressure drop in the auxiliary distributing
channel is most frequently achieved by correct determination of the channel length (depending on
the channel width).
The auxiliary distributing channel is very often ended with a relaxation channel i.e. local
dereduction of the channel capacity.
The relaxation distributing channel is included in the design of the flow system of the
longitudinal, slit extrusion head mainly in order to ensure relaxation of stresses that may occur
during polymer processing.

EXTRUDER DIE Film and Sheet die

Fig. 31. Examples of the flexible lip and
choker bar locations in the longitudinal, slit
extrusion heads for: a) flat film, b) flat sheet,
c) flat film and sheet; 1 inlet channel,
2 distributing channel, 3 auxiliary
distributing channel, 4 relaxation
distributing channel, 5 extrusion head die, 6
adjusting bolt, 7 extrusion head body, 8
flexible lip, 9 choker bar

Diagram of the flow system of the

longitudinal, slit extrusion head showing in
particular the shape of the main distributing
channel: a) straight, circular channel,
b) conical symmetrical, linearly convergent
channel,
c)
conical-symmetrical,
parabolically
convergent channel

EXTRUDER DIE Film and Sheet die

The elements that have adequately shaped surfaces are used to adjust the polymer flow. These
may be choker bars or flexible lips.
They enable continuous change of the flow channel depth or the die height. The choker bars are
most frequently used in the extrusion heads for sheet.
Flex lip adjustments are made with number of bolts along the width of the die allow local
closing of the final land gap. This allows the fine adjustments of the extrudate thickness.
The choker bar adjustments works in a similar way as flex lip adjustments.
The deformation of the choker bar causes a change in the height of the flow channel and thus
allows an adjustment of the flow distribution in the die.
Next adjustment is the temp adjustment. Local heating or cooling of certain die sections enhance
or restrict flow.
Incorporation of removable lower die lip tends to increase the thickness of sheet extrusion by
changing only the lower die lip.
In some automated extrusion lines, the gap of the sheet die is adjusted automatically. This is done
with heat expandable die lip bolts.

EXTRUDER DIE Film and Sheet die

T die flow geometry is simple and easy to machine.
Distribution of polymer melt is not very uniform and the flow channel geometry is not well
streamlined. Not suitable for high viscosity polymers.
Fish type die results in more uniform melt distribution than the T die, however a completely
uniform distribution is still difficult to obtain with this geometry.
Next is coat hanger die which is commonly used in sheet extrusion.
It is designed to give very uniform distribution of polymer melt. However it is more difficult to
machine and more expensive than other two types of die.

EXTRUDER DIE Film and Sheet die

Diagram of the flow system of the

longitudinal, slit extrusion head: 1
inlet channel, 2 main distributing
channel, 3 auxiliary distributing
channel, 4 relaxation distributing
channel, 5 extrusion head die

EXTRUDER DIE Film and Sheet die

EXTRUDER DIE Pipe and Tubing dies

Small diameter products which is less than 10mm referred as tubing and large diameter products
as pipe.
Pipes are often extruded with in-line pipe dies.
In these dies, the center line of the die is in line with the center line of the extruder.
Polymer stream flows through the polymer filter and having met the torpedo of the extrusion
head mandrel flows into the distributing channel (annular, conical, divergent, linear channel)
formed by the spider legs where the polymer is divided into several component streams and flows
in parallel to the extrusion head axis.
Finally, the polymer stream is introduced into the extrusion head die.
The polymer flows out of the die in the form of annular stream that has cross-section dimensions
close to cross-section dimensions of the pipes produced.
Diagram of the longitudinal extrusion head for
pipes: 1 inlet channel, 2
distributing channel, 3 extrusion head die, 4
supplementary channel that supplies air
to inside of the pipe, 5 extrusion head body, 6
die body, 7 torpedo of the extrusion
head mandrel, 8 extrusion head mandrel, 9
polymer filter

EXTRUDER DIE Pipe and Tubing dies

When extruding a profile of a closed cross-section (for example a pipe), a supplementary
channel is recommended to be made in the extrusion head to provide a low-pressure supply of air
during extrusion process.
Such a solution prevents formation of a reduced pressure area inside the profile as well as
prevents the wall collapse.

Dividing ring a) integrated with a torpedo (BASF, Germany), b) with

a radial straight spider legs (Welex Inc., USA): 1 torpedo, 2 supporting ring, 3
spider legs

EXTRUDER DIE Pipe and Tubing dies

Spider legs are used for fixing the torpedo and mandrel to the main body of the extrusion head.
A dividing flow channel is formed between two successive spider legs.
Each spider leg must be designed in such a way as to ensure the smallest possible disturbance of
plasticized polymer flow.
As the polymer recombines after the spider leg, a weld line will form and thus the location of
spider support should be far enough from the die exit to enable the polymer to heal.
Dividing ring integrated with the torpedo is used for mandrel fixing as well as performs the tasks
of a polymer filter with small through holes.

Spider legs designs: a) straight radial ribs,

b) helical radial spider legs, c)
shape spider legs, d) arc radial spider legs;
1 main body of the extrusion head, 2
torpedo of the extrusion head mandrel, 3
dividing channel, 4 spider legs

EXTRUDER DIE Pipe and Tubing dies

Another type of extrusion head designed for pipes is the transverse or cross head extrusion die.
The transverse extrusion heads are used for pipes of smaller diameters.
In the transverse extrusion head, the stream of plasticized polymer flows from the plasticizing
system through the inlet channel situated perpendicularly to the extrusion head die.
Circular or conical inlet channel is connected to the manifold made in the cylindrical or a conical
heart-shaped mandrel in such a way that polymer is supplied at a certain angle with regard to the
extrusion head axis.
The channel in the mandrel is further transformed into the annular distributing channel (conical,
convergent and linear) and into the die.

Diagram of the transverse extrusion

head; 1 inlet channel, 2 annular
distributing channel, 3 die, 4
main body of the extrusion head, 5
die body, 6 heart-shaped
mandrel, 7 adjusting bolt, 8
manifold

EXTRUDER DIE Pipe and Tubing dies

The manifold should be designed in such a way as to achieve almost the same polymer flow rate
along the whole mandrel circumference and consequently a uniform pipe extrusion speed.
A polymer storage area is obtained in this way.
Polymer may be supplied further through the distributing channel characterized by a high flow
resistance in the direction of the extrusion head die only after the storage are has been completely
filled as a result of a small flow resistance.
The disadvantage of this solution is that it is difficult to determine how long the polymer stays in
the manifold. Such inability may lead to thermal degradation of polymer.

EXTRUDER DIE Pipe and Tubing dies

Transverse or cross head die is also used for wire coating.
In wire coating, a conductor passes through the hollow center of the core tube and becomes
coated with polymer melt close to the die exit.
In wire coating, it may be of high pressure extrusion and low pressure extrusion.
In high pressure extrusion, the polymer melt meets the conductor before the die exit. This allows
for good contact between the conductor and polymer.
In low pressure extrusion, the polymer melt meets the conductor after the die exit.
It is used when a loose jacket needs to be extruded over a coated wire.

EXTRUDER DIE Profile dies

Profiles are all extruded articles having a cross-sectional shape that differs from that of a circle,
an annulus, or a very wide and thin rectangle (flat film or sheet).

EXTRUDER DIE Blown film dies

Most common die used in blown film extrusion is the spiral mandrel die.
In this die, the polymer is divided into number of spiraling channels with the depth of the
channels reducing in the direction of flow.
The advantage of spiral mandrel die is due to its relatively low pressure requirement and its
excellent melt distribution characteristics.
Presence of weld line marks in in-line tubing die makes the die less suitable for blown film.
The incoming polymer melt is divided into separate ports. Each feed port feeds the polymer into
a spiral groove machined into the mandrel.
Cross sectional area of the groove decreases with distance, while the gap b/w mandrel and die
increases towards the die exit.
The multiplicity of flow channels results in a layering of polymer melt from the various feed
ports, yielding a good distribution of polymer melt exiting from the die.
Local gap adjustment is not possible and thus wall thickness uniformity is generally not good as
with flat sheet die.

EXTRUDER DIE Blown film dies

EXTRUDER DIE Coextrusion dies

It is the simultaneous extrusion of two or more polymers through a single die where the
polymers are joined together such that they form distinct, well bonded layers forming single
extrusion product.
It is applied in film, sheet, tubing, blown film, wire coating and other types of profile extrusion.
Advantages are better bonds b/w layers, reduced materials and processing costs, improved
properties, and air entrapment b/w the layers.
It is used in a variety of packaging applications to obtain good moisture resistance, gas barrier
properties, reduced costs etc.,
Combination of PE/PA/PE is used for sterile packaged disposables.

EXTRUDER DIE Coextrusion dies

EXTRUDER DIE Coextrusion blown filmdie

EXTRUDER DIE Coextrusion Film and Sheet die

Diagram of the coextrusion
head for extrudates of a
simple cross-section area: 1
supplying
component, 2 connecting
component, 3 extruding
component (co-extrusion head), 4
inlet channel, 5 distributing
channel, 6 co-extrusion head
Diagram of the co-extrusion head for
two-layer film: 1 inlet channel of the
first polymer, 1a inlet channel of the
second polymer, 2 distributing
channel, 3 coextrusion head die, 4
adjusting bolt, 5 co-extrusion head
body, 6 choker bar, 7 flexible lip

EXTRUSION TROUBLESHOOTING
.

Problems

Possible Causes

Surging

High moisture content

Die pressure too low
Rear barrel temperature too low/too high
Screw speed too fast
Die land too short
Die opening too large
Extruder drive belt slipping
Improper screw design
Voltage fluctuation
Temperature controller malfunction
Metering depth too deep or shallow Warm-hot feed throat
Material bridging in feed throat

Bubbles

Localized hot spot in die

Improper screw design

Bubbles uniformly
distributed through
extrudate

High moisture content

Melt temperature too high
Improper screw design (excessive shear)
Incompatible additive
Die temperature too high

Melt fracture

Metering depth too shallow

Metering depth too deep
Feed insufficient
Die land too short

Rough surface

Improper screw design

Die temperature too low
High moisture content

Material build-up in die

Contamination in material

Incompatible additive
Die land too long
Melt temperature too low

EXTRUSION TROUBLESHOOTING
.

Problems

Possible Causes

Flow lines

Melt temperature too low

Extruder output excessive
Poor mixing
Dirty extruder or die

Improper screw design

Die temperature too low
Back pressure too low
Extruder surging

Bridging in feed
zone

Screw overheated
Rear zone temperature too high
Screw speed too low
Poor shut down procedure
Hopper dryer temperature too high

Poor gauge control

Extruder surging
Takeoff variable
Temperature control inadequate
High moisture content

Carbon specks

Dirty equipment
Improper resin handling
Extruder run dry at shut down and not cooled

EXTRUSION TROUBLESHOOTING - TUBING

.

Problems

Possible Causes

Tube is sagging
between die and
cooling trough

Melt temperature too high

Tubing is out of
round

Melt temperature too high / internal air pressure may be needed /

vacuum trough with low vacuum can be used.
Cooling bath too short
Use non-blocking rolls to keep extrudate submerged in cooling bath.

Droplets or lumps Mandrel and/or die temperature too high Contamination

appearing on l.D. of
tubing
BLOWN FILM
Poor bubble
strength

Melt temperature too high

Inadequate cooling

Line speed too fast

Moisture content too high

Blocking

Nip rolls too low; nip roll pressure too high

Melt temperature too high
Line speed too fast
Inadequate cooling
Moisture content too high

EXTRUSION TROUBLESHOOTING CAST FILM

.

Problems

Possible Causes

Poor gloss or
transparency

Increase melt temperature

Increase cooling

Blocking

Line speed too high

Material requires slip additive

Plate out on roll

Poor or non-uniform contact on chill roll

Insufficient roll pressure
Non-uniform gauge

Melt temperature too high

Top roll temperature too high