SPE Plastics Insight Archive

How artificial intelligence is transforming injection molding

The Industry 4.0 era of manufacturing depends so heavily on data-driven precision that artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role in harnessing that data to enhance the performance of machines — including injection molders. AI...

source: Plastics Today

Understanding the basics of injection molding

“There are injection molding parts everywhere,” says Kyra Stawson. The technical sales engineer at Xometry, the world’s largest digital manufacturing marketplace, goes on to explains that injection molding parts can be found in “anything that you...

source: Thomas

A hot topic, literally, in extrusion technology

Physics is a turn-off word for many, as it sounds like the science education subject that it is. So people say, “It’s for them, we don’t need it” or “We couldn’t understand it anyway.” But physics involves things we all deal with...

source: Plastics Today

Controlled fabrication of multimetallic building blocks for hybrid nanomaterials

Polymers with different metal complexes in their side chains are thought to be promising high-performance materials with a wide variety of applications. However, conventional fabrication methods are not suitable for constructing...

source: Tokyo University of Science via ScienceDaily

New polymer mesophase structure discovered

Polymers, large molecules made up of repeating smaller molecules called monomers, are found in nearly everything we use in our day-to-day lives. Polymers can be natural or created synthetically. Natural polymers, also called biopolymers, include DNA, proteins and materials...

source: Phys.org

Plastic made of vanillin

From inexpensive mass products to tailored high-tech materials, our modern world without plastics is unimaginable. The major downside to this is the use of fossil fuels and the growing quantities of waste. A new approach could be the production of high-grade plastics made...

source: AAAS via EurekAlert!

US scrap paper exports sink slightly as plastics drop sharply

U.S. exports of recovered fiber held relatively steady during the first quarter of 2022, but scrap plastic shipments plunged by more than one-fifth. U.S. companies exported 4.28 million short tons of recovered fiber (excluding recycled...

source: Resource Recycling

Closed-loop additive manufacturing fueled by upcycled plastic

Researchers have developed an upcycling approach that adds value to discarded plastics for reuse in additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. The readily adoptable, scalable method introduces a closed-loop strategy that could globally reduce...

source: DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory via ScienceDaily

North American robotics market experienced best quarter ever

Setting a new record, the North American robotics market saw companies from the U.S., Canada and Mexico order 11,595 industrial robots in the first quarter — a 28% gain compared to the first quarter of 2021, according to data released by the International Federation...

source: Plastics Technology

Extruding PCR? Consider a vented extruder

Efforts to recover used plastics and reprocess them into new products are accelerating as the industry moves toward a circular economy. For extrusion processors, this could result in their first exposure to vented extruders with two-stage screws, which are designed to extract...

source: Plastics Technology

Scientists succeed in making PLA material more degradable

According to a press release, researchers at the University of Bath have succeeded in making PLA even more degradable. Essentially, they have found that by incorporating sugar units into the polymers, they can be degraded more easily when exposed to UV light.

source: 3Dnatives

Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic metallization with Sn coatings

A paper recently published in the journal Additive Manufacturing has demonstrated the feasibility of using cold spray additive manufacturing for carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic metallization with tin coatings. CFRP is used extensively...

source: AZoMaterials

Improving supply-chain visibility a top priority for manufacturers, survey says

Disruptions to the global supply chain driven by the pandemic in 2020 persist, and manufacturers continue to address the cascading events in a variety of ways, according to a 2022 manufacturing survey conducted by on-demand digital manufacturing company Fictiv.

source: Plastics Today

Resin report: Time to stock up, as hurricane season starts

The resin market turned sluggish, as both polyethylene and polypropylene railcar availability improved and off-grade discounts steepened, which also helped to enable transactions. Prices for both commodity groups had each dropped a solid $0.03/lb in the previous week,...

source: Plastics Today

Developing plastic sand bricks used in construction

The circular economy offers a solution to the linear system of “take, make, use, dispose.” It tries to maintain resources in use for as long as feasible, optimize their value while they are in use, and recover and regenerate products when they are no longer useful. Plastic...

source: AZoCleantech

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The Future Is Now: 3-D Printers Are Poised to Disrupt the Economy

How artificial intelligence is transforming injection molding

Understanding the basics of injection molding

A hot topic, literally, in extrusion technology

Controlled fabrication of multimetallic building blocks for hybrid nanomaterials

New polymer mesophase structure discovered

Plastic made of vanillin

US scrap paper exports sink slightly as plastics drop sharply

Closed-loop additive manufacturing fueled by upcycled plastic

North American robotics market experienced best quarter ever

Extruding PCR? Consider a vented extruder

Scientists succeed in making PLA material more degradable

Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic metallization with Sn coatings

Improving supply-chain visibility a top priority for manufacturers, survey says

Resin report: Time to stock up, as hurricane season starts

Developing plastic sand bricks used in construction

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