Abstract

Processing of plastics comprises a variety of operations involving flow and shaping of polymer melts into finished articles. For thermoplastic resins the most common processing operations are extrusion and molding. In extrusion, solid plastic resin is melted and then shaped in a continuous part of a defined cross-section by screw-conveying and forcing the melt to flow through a die. Die forming is used in pipe and tubing, film, sheet, wire, and cable coating. Molding involves such noncontinuous processes as injection molding, blow molding, rotational molding, and compression molding, in which three-dimensional parts are made in a closed mold. Molded products are solid, hollow, or foamed. Other thermoplastics operations include thermoforming, calendering, and casting. In contrast to thermoplastics, thermosetting resins use low viscosity components which, through chemical reaction, produce the solid part in the mold. Common processing methods for thermoset systems are compression molding, transfer molding, and injection molding. Specialized techniques developed for fiber-reinforced thermosets include open-mold processing, pultrusion, resin transfer molding, and reaction injection molding. Specific processing methods for making low density articles from thermoset polyurethanes are described.