Thermoplastic

Thermoplastics are polymers which are one material of thermoplastic based composites. The processing of thermoplastics and related composites are based on the production technology of the polymer industry. Different processing technologies like extruders, injection-moulder and heating-cooling mixers are used. The manufacture may be divided into few basic steps, blending, compounding, and forming.

The blending of the ingredients may be done as a standalone process, in which the temperatures stay below the melting point and a homogeneous granular dry-blend is produced. The blending may also be integrated into the next processing step, the compounding, which is common in thermoplastic processing. During compounding the polymer is exposed to heat and shear and thereby plasticized.

The compounding step also severs to remove moisture and gases from the compound, which is particularly critical in the case of WPC. After compounding, the material may be directly formed into products (one-step process) or pelletized for later forming processes (two-step process).

Forming or shaping is a process where the former produced compound is formed to an end product. For linear products like decking profiles extruders are used. For complex 3-dimensional products injection-moulder are used.

Our research in thermoplastic processing focuses on:

• Development of processing technologies for thermoplastic composites
• Material development by new formulations of wood and natural fibre composites
• Processing of composites based on thermoplastic-polyurethane
• Processing of composites based on thermoplastic biopolymers 
• Processing of recycling materials
• Process optimization of:
  • Compounding  (extrusion, heating-cooling mixers)
  • Injection-moulding
  • 3-D printing