Capabilities | Polymer Industries

Sheet Extrusion

Compression Molding

Ram Extrusion

Fabrication

Other Processes

Single Layer Extrusion

Polymer Industries utilizes a single screw continuous sheet extrusion process in which plastic pellets are fed into the barrel of the extruder and conveyed by the screw that is inside of this barrel out of the other end of an extruder. The heaters which are outside of the barrel of the extruder as well as the friction from the rotation of the screw melt the plastic pellets into a sheet form and the plastic is then placed on a 3 roll stack. The plastic goes through the bottom and middle roll, wraps around back of the middle roll and then back around the top roll as shown. These rolls are water cooled and help to take the heat out of the plastic. After the plastic comes off the top roll, it travels down the conveyor to the end of the sheetline where a saw cuts the sheet to width as well as to length. As the plastic travels the length of the conveyor, numerous operations help to stress relieve the sheet as well as put the desired surface finish on the sheet surface.

Co-Extrusion

Polymer Industries also utilizes a co-extrusion process in which two extruders feed the die to form a continuous sheet. The main extruder feeds the middle "B" layer of the sheet while the co-extruder feeds the outside "A" layers. This process is used where either different colors or different formulations of materials are required on the skin surface versus the middle of the sheet. This process is used to manufacture our Densetec® Sign Board, Densetec® AntiSkid, and Densetec® Utility Board Materials.

Surface Finishes


Desert Sand	Orange Peel	Cobble Stone


Round AntiSkid	Diamond Antiskid	NSF Cutting Board

Colors Extruded

Numerous colors are extruded by Polymer Industries. Each product has its own set of standard colors which can be found on the product page. Polymer Industries also can run custom colors upon request although there are requirements for minimum pounds per color per thickness.

Sizes Extruded

Thicknesses Extruded :1/32" thru 1-1/2"Widths Extruded: Up to 144". Standard widths are 48", 54", and 60".
Lengths Extruded: Up to 480" if desired. Standard lengths are 96" and 120". Also available in coils, if needed, for hundreds of feet in length.

Compression Molding

Polymer Industries utilizes compression molding to produce its UHMW sheets and thick gauge HDPE, PP, HMW, and LDPE. UHMW is a material that does not flow when it melts, therefore it has to be either ram extruded or compression molded. Compression molding is a process by which material is placed inside of a metal mold that is in the form of a sheet. This mold is placed inside of the press which presses the material under heat and pressure so it will take the form of a sheet. After the sheet comes out of the mold, the sides of the sheet are trimmed so that edges have a good finish. Sheets are either sold as is with a thickness tolerance of 10% or planed to the desired thickness. Compression molding is utilized for HDPE, PP, HMW, and LDPE sheet for thicknesses of 1 1/2" and above. These materials are not able to be extruded at this thickness and must be molded to be made.

Sizes Molded

Widths Molded : Up to 8'. 4' is standard.Lengths Molded : Up to 20'. Standard lengths are 96" and 120" on Densetec® Materials. Standard length is 120" on Polyslick® UHMW

Ram Extrusion

Polymer Industries uses a ram extrusion process for the manufacture of its Polyslick® UHMW rod, tubing, and profiles. UHMW powder is gravity fed into a chamber and a hydraulic ram pushes the powder from this chamber into the die. The die is the shape of the desired plastic, a certain diameter rod, a certain OD and ID tube, or a profile shape. Heaters are employed on the outside of the die to heat the plastic and make it form into the shape of the die. The hydraulic ram moves back and forth continuously feeding the powder into the die. As the material comes out of the die, it travels the length of the conveyor after which it is cut to length. Ram extrusion does not shear the material that is being manufactured as does single screw extrusion which employs a rotating screw to move the material. It moves the material by hydraulically pushing it through the die which is the desired shape of the end product. UHMW-PE, which becomes gelatinous when it melts instead of molten, can only be extruded with this type or similar type process.

Sizes Extruded

Diameters : Up to 10" diameter.

Lengths : Standard lengths are 120". Other lengths can be extruded upon request. Also Polymer Industries can cut any of its ram extruded products to any lengths desired by the customer. For example, if a customer desires 10" rod cut into 6" long pieces, this can be done with a cold saw that cuts large diameter rods to length.

Fabrication

Polymer Industries employs a full range of fabrication equipment including all of the equipment listed below. We are able to supply products at any stage of completion required by our customers, from cut to size blanks all the way to completely finished parts. Our 3-axis cnc routers are able to make almost any parts required by our customers. What the routers cannot do, we use our mills and lathes to do. We utilize two state of the art CNC panel saws for cut to size pieces, a route more and more customers are choosing to take to cut down on handling the materials at their own facility. We are able to plane sheets to within .005" on our planer which will plane full sheets up to 54" wide. Finally we are able to cut our large diameter rods to whatever size pieces the customer desires with our cold saw.

All Products are fabricated at Polymer Industries

Fabrication Equipment

Routers
CNC Panel Saws
CNC Production Lathe
Mills
Lathes
Table Saws
Planer
Cold Saw
Band Saws