As discussed in our previous article on Polymer Testing Equipment

As discussed in our previous article on Polymer Testing Equipment, plastic is fast becoming the most popular choice of material in manufacturing industries. As many readers have been asking me to give some details about Plastic Processing Equipment and methods, I took out time to inform our readers about the various methods involved in procuring finished plastic parts.
The family of polymers is extraordinarily large and varied. There are,China Carbon Plate 160g/㎡, T300 3K, Unidirectional Manufacturers however, some fairly broad and basic approaches that can be followed when designing or fabricating a product out of polymers or, more commonly, polymers compounded with other ingredients. The type of fabrication process to be adopted depends on the properties and characteristics of the polymer and on the shape and form of the final product.
In the broad classification of plastics there are two generally accepted categories: thermoplastic resins and thermosetting resins.
Thermoplastic resins consist of long polymer molecules, each of which may or may not have side chains or groups. The side chains or groups, if present, are not linked to other polymer molecules (i.e., are not cross-linked).China Carbon Plate 200g/㎡, T300 3K, Plain Weave Manufacturers Thermoplastic resins, usually obtained as a granular polymer, can therefore be repeatedly melted or solidified by heating or cooling. Heat softens or melts the material so that it can be formed; subsequent cooling then hardens or solidifies the material in the given shape. No chemical change usually takes place during this shaping process.
In thermosetting resins the reactive groups of the molecules from cross-links between the molecules during the fabrication process. The cross-linked or “cured” material cannot be softened by heating.China Carbon Plate 200g/㎡, T300 3K, Twill Manufacturers
Thermoset materials are usually supplied as a partially polymerized molding compound or as a liquid monomer–polymer mixture. In this uncured condition they can be shaped with or without pressure and polymerized to the cured state with chemicals or heat.
With the progress of technology the demarcation between thermoplastic and thermoset processing has become less distinct. For thermosets processes have been developed which make use of the economic processing characteristics or thermoplastics. For example, cross-linked polyethylene wire coating is made by extruding the thermoplastic polyethylene, which is then cross-linked (either chemically or by irradiation) to form what is actually a thermoset material that cannot be melted again by heating.
More recently, modified machinery and molding compositions have become available to provide the economics of thermoplastic processing to thermosetting materials.China Carbon Plate Carbon Laminate 280g/㎡, T300 3K, Twill Manufacturers Injection molding of phenolics and other thermosetting materials are such examples. Nevertheless, it is still a widespread practice in industry to distinguish between thermoplastic and thermosetting resins.
Compression and transfer molding are the most common methods of processing thermosetting plastics. For thermoplastics, the more important processing techniques are extrusion, injection, blow molding, and calendaring; other processes are thermoforming, slush molding, and spinning.
Tooling for plastics processing defines the shape of the part. It falls into two major categories, China Carbon Plate 200g/㎡, T700 12K, Unidirectional Manufacturersmolds and dies. A mold is used to form a complete three-dimensional plastic part. The plastics processes that use molds are compression molding, injection molding, blow molding, thermoforming, and reaction injection molding (RIM). A die, on the other hand, is used to form two of the three dimensions of a plastic part. The third dimension, usually thickness or length, is controlled by other process variables.
The plastics processes that use dies are extrusion and thermoforming. Many plastics processes do not differentiate between the terms mold and die. Molds, however, are the most predominant form of plastics tooling.