Fiber Material Portioning and Weighing for Extrusion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for processing fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials face challenges in ensuring consistent mass flow and fiber integrity during extrusion, particularly with large pieces of material containing long fibers, leading to potential fiber breakage and uneven mixing ratios.
Innovation Solution
The method involves portioning and weighing fiber-containing materials to ensure consistent cycle times, feeding them into an extruder with a thermoplastic polymer, and using a perforated plate to cool and solidify the mixture, while also employing a rotating or oscillating tube to homogenize the material flow and prevent jamming by applying pressure through a screw conveyor or piston.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If large pieces of material containing long fibers are processed, then fiber length and stabilizing properties are improved, but flowability and metering consistency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The material containing fibers is divided into portions with controlled size and weight before processing. This segmentation allows the material to maintain adequate flowability for consistent metering while preserving sufficiently long fibers to provide the required stabilizing properties in the final composite material.
2Ease of operation
If material is ground to fine powder to improve flowability, then metering consistency is improved, but fiber length and stabilizing properties deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of changing the material to fine powder, the invention changes the parameter of portion size and weight to achieve consistent metering. This allows maintaining the original fiber length and stabilizing properties while still obtaining adequate flowability through controlled portioning and weighing mechanisms.
3Productivity
If continuous processing is used to improve productivity, then output increases, but mass flow consistency and mixing ratio uniformity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses periodic weighing and portioning of material at predetermined cycle times, where cycle times are directly proportional to the weight of individual portions. This periodic action with weight-based cycle time adjustment ensures consistent mass flow and mixing ratios while maintaining high productivity through automated processing.
4Length of moving object
If material is not pre-processed to improve flowability, then fiber integrity is improved, but metering difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The material is pre-weighed and portioned into controlled sizes before being fed to the extruder. This preliminary action of portioning and weighing ensures consistent metering without requiring the material to be ground or otherwise pre-processed, thereby preserving fiber integrity while achieving adequate flowability for metering.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for the production of high-quality fiber-reinforced polymer compounds with consistent fiber length and distribution, reducing waste and environmental impact by recycling trimmings and old parts, and enhancing material throughput and quality.
Implementation Method 1
The material flow, consisting of the material containing fibers and the thermoplastic polymer, is fed to at least one extruder screw, in which this material is heated and pressed. In this way, the polymer is brought into a plasticized state
Implementation Method 2
Finally, the polymer is preferably forced through a perforated plate and cooled so that it solidifies
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A method for processing a material (1) containing fibers (2), in which the material (1) is divided into portions and the portions are weighed. These portions are fed into a thermoplastic polymer (14) at cycle times directly proportional to the determined weight of the portions. This mixture is then fed into at least one extruder screw (18), where it is thermally heated and compressed. In this way, the polymer (14) is brought into a plasticized state so that it can be shaped accordingly.