The plastic extrusion process is an industrial manufacturing process in which a polymer liquid polymerises into a solid filament or fibres, that can be used to make many different hard and soft materials such as textiles, bottles, cases for electronics, or packaging materials in general. In this process, thermoplastic polymers are "unwound" or polymerized into thin strips and then cross-linked into long chains.
The shapes can be formed into everything from bowls to automobile bumpers to toys for children to UV corrugated tubing. The melted plastic material can then be forced out of the nozzle by pressure or an electric current. This produces a shaped product in various manufacturing processes such as injection moulding, blow moulding, and rotational processing.
- In the extrusion process, the polymers are usually made into a molten state by heating and then forced through a die. The extruded polymer often gets cooled by water. The liquid is also pushed through a die (a tool with specially designed holes) that turns it into a solid tube or rod.
- The molten polymer is heated using a heat exchanger to the desired temperature. A material feeder then feeds the molten material into a die, which is where and when the extrusion takes place
- In elastic extrusion, the pressure needed to push the material can be released rapidly when it reaches its destination. This results in a filament, like for example some kinds of rubber hoses or silicone tubes.
- The shape of the die determines how and where the extruded plastic will be turned into different products. Typically this process has been used in making wire that can be turned into beads for jewellery or used for similar purposes.
Basically, the extrusion process is the manufacture of plastic materials through a variety of methods, including injection moulding, blow moulding, and rotational moulding.
