January 31, 2012

ANTEC 2012, Orlando, Fl  April 2 - April 4, 2012

ANTEC:  ANnual TEchnical Conference 

A concentration of highly  accomplished experts and suppliers.

Extrusion Basics

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP--- COME JOIN US

Extrusion Search

Comments, questions, or information.  Click here and get advice from a vetted expert.

Webmaster:  Steve Derezinski,  Extruder Tech, Inc.

*******New Feature********

Much of extrusion technology used today is rooted in works done years or decades ago.  CLASSIC ANTEC feature is dedicated to bring back some of the works that influenced the growth and development or the extrusion process, now and for years to come.  Click on the link to down load the first CLASSIC ANTEC, the visualization study presented by Bruce Maddock at the 1959 ANTEC.    

A Visual Analysis of Flow and Mixing in Extruder Screws

*******************************************************

WINTER NEWSLETTER IS HERE

Paper of the Month, February

Modeling of Anisotropic Polymers during Extrusion

Arash Ahmadzadegan, Michael A. Zimmerman, Anil Saigal
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Tufts University
Medford, MA 02155

It is known that a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) melt
aligns in the direction of the shear flow when it passes
through an extrusion die. This alignment causes thin films
of the anisotropic LCP material to display different
properties in different directions. To overcome this
problem, many complex die design technologies have
been developed that involve moving surfaces. However,
there is a clear need to develop a method of predicting
crystal orientation (alignment) to aid in die design. This
paper investigates different modeling methods, and
develops a numerical modeling technique using FLUENT,
to predict molecular alignment by correlating it to
streamlines of flow. This model also incorporates the
complex rheology of the LCP in predicting the resulting
alignment. It is shown that for a new cross-flow design of
the extrusion die that at around Re=500 the maximum
angle between the vectors is 80 degrees and at lower Re it
does not satisfy the desired angle between the two flows.

*********************************************************************************

Extrusion Wiki

extrusionwiki.com is the ultimate search engine for information specific to plastic extrusion.  It relies on over 5 decades of information compiled from the annals of the Society of Plastic Engineers Extrusion Division based works of past and present founders and recognized experts in the field.

**********************************************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

********************************************************************************

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsor

ANTEC 2011, Boston

SPE EXTRUSION DIVISION AWARDS

Dr. Mark Spalding (right) presented the Bruce Maddock Award to Dr. Gred Campbell.   

Dr. Paul Andersen on right presented the Lew Erwin Award to Mr. Jonathan Lee.

Ms. Polina Razina receives the Lew Erwin Award from Dr. Paul Andersen

Mr. Stan Jakopin receives the Distinguished Service Award from Mark Wetzel on the right.

Dr. Paul Andersen (right) presented the Heinz Herman Twin Screw Award to Dr. Costas Gogos.

Mark Wetzel on right presented the Best Paper Award to Dr. Greg Campbell (left) and Dr. Mark Spalding at the Awards Meeting of ANTEC 2011. 

AN ENGINEERING APPROACH TO THE CORRECTION OF ROTATIONAL FLOW

CALCULATIONS FOR SINGLE-SCREW EXTRUDERS

Mark A. Spalding, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI

Gregory A. Campbell, Castle Research Associates, Jonesport, ME

Simulation of single-screw extruder screws using the
standard pseudo-Newtonian method is known to deviate
from measured performance. Part of this deviation is
caused by the calculation of the drag flow rate. Previous
research has shown that the calculation of the drag flow
rate using this method is higher than that in the actual
channel, causing the pressure gradient to be incorrectly
adjusted to compensate for the error in the drag flow term.
The research provided here provides the correction factors
for rotational flow (historically known as drag flow) such
that axial pressure gradients can be quickly and accurately
calculated.

GUIDE TO MAKING EXCELLENT SLIDES  A slide show of simple rules for making PowerPoint slides that are truly effective. 

Here is a link to some tips on making great slide presentations.