Custom-tailored Screw Design from Xaloy® Decreases an Automotive Injection Molder’s Scrap Rate to 1%
Flawless aesthetics are especially important in applications such as automotive and electronics. Problems with swirling and streaking lead to high scrap rates and decreased profitability. Color dispersion problems can be prevented though, with a screw design tailored specially to the application and the resin processed. Xaloy® provided a U.S.-based injection molder with a custom screw design that decreased their scrap rate from 15-20% to 1%.
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The Challenge
Decreasing Scrap Rates
An injection molding customer in the U.S., servicing the automotive industry, running 20% Long Glass Fiber (LGF) Polypropylene, with three different color concentrates (beige, grey, and black), on a 105 mm 21:1 Engel machine, reported that they were having trouble acquiring adequate color dispersion while maintaining optimal mechanical properties. Before reaching out to Xaloy, they tried two other screw designs; a single flighted screw that produced optimal mechanical properties, but fell short with color dispersion, and a mixing screw that produced adequate color dispersion, but suboptimal mechanical properties due to fiber breaking and wadding. They requested a solution that would allow them to achieve adequate color dispersion with optimal mechanical properties on all three colors.
The Xaloy Solution
Xaloy® Pulsar® Mixer
Xaloy suggested a custom designed single flighted screw with an Xaloy® Pulsar® mixer to improve color mixing while maintaining desired mechanical properties without fiber breakage. Xaloy’s Pulsar® mixer was developed to address the many problems that are encountered during the mixing process. This screw is the best option for long glass fiber applications in the industry as it can provide up to 4x the mixing capability with little to no temperature rise and yields virtually no fiber breakage or wadding.
The Result
Reduced Scrap Rate from 5-20% To 1%
Providing a single flighted screw with an Xaloy® Pulsar® Mixer, allowed the customer to achieve its’ goals of adequate color dispersion and optimal mechanical properties.
Process Improvements
- Decrease in scrap rate decreased from 15 – 20% to 1%.
Are You Facing
Similar Challenges?
Reach out to our technical engineers to discuss your challenges and to learn how a custom solution from Xaloy can help improve your operations.
