Plastic Extrusion
Plastic extrusions are crafted in a manner akin to injection-molded plastics, but with a distinctive twist: they take shape through an open die. The process begins as plastic resins, including PVC, acrylic, polypropylene, or ABS, are funneled into a hopper and fed into the extruding barrel. Here, the resin is sheared and melted before being propelled through the open die to form a specific profile or shape. This newly formed profile is immediately submerged in cold water to set the plastic.
The continuous extrusion process sees the profile passing through the die, cooling in water tanks, and arriving at a sawing table, where it is cut into pre-determined lengths.
Extruded plastics are tailored to meet a wide array of specialized applications, such as building trim, window and door sealants, vinyl siding, PVC pipe, and surgical tubing. Additionally, plastic sheets and flexible plastic sheet rolls are produced through extrusion. In this variant, the melted plastic is stretched rather than cooled after exiting the die. Flexible sheets pass through a series of large calendars before being rolled onto a tube. Discover more about the fascinating world of plastic extrusions.
The purpose of plastic extrusion is to create products and shapes of all kinds. Customers turn to the plastic extrusion industry because the process is reliable, versatile, and fairly inexpensive. Plastic extrusion is important to many industries, including automotive manufacturing, building and construction, HVAC, plumbing, chemical processing, appliance, food and beverage, electronics.
