Nordic ARM Conference 2013

Transcription

1 Nordic ARM Conference 2013 R&D Activities at The Polymer Processing Research Centre Mark P Kearns Moulding Research Manager Polymer Processing Research Centre

2 Future Proofing the Rotomoulding Industry Future-Proofing: The process of trying to anticipate future developments, so that actions can be taken to seize opportunities and minimise negative consequences. Presentation Structure: 1. Context 2. EU Funded Rotomoulding projects 3. Rotoflex Project 4. Rotocooler Project What is the Current Technical Status of our Industry?

3 Current Technical Status of our Industry This is what Rotomoulders seem to do really well Mould a lot of large, hollow parts e.g. big tanks Mould different types of polyethylene Use relatively cheap moulds Build our own rotomoulding machines Make parts with nearly uniform walls

4 Current Technical Status of our Industry This is what some Rotomoulders are learning (starting?) to do Monitor mould, material and oven temperatures Buy standardised rotomoulding machines Mould a few non-pe plastics e.g. PP / PA Build good quality tooling Decorate in the mould Use robotic finishing techniques

5 Current Technical Status of our Industry This is what most Rotomoulders are not really too good at Reducing cycle times - heating, cooling, material handling Moulding engineering plastics e.g. ABS, PC, PEEK Making efficient use of energy Using pressurised moulds Holding close tolerances Making quality foamed parts

6 Current Technical Status of our Industry Primary competition: Blow moulding Twin-sheet thermoforming Secondary competition: Gas-assist injection moulding Filament winding Slush moulding Lost-core injection moulding

7 Worlds Largest Blow Moulding Machine Roth Global Plastics, New York Max: 450kg shot Max: 4.5m length x 1.8m diameter 11min cycletime 6-8 times faster than Rotomoulding

8 Current Technical Status of our Industry Summary: 1. Rotomoulding competes well in design and overall dimensional versatility 2. Rotomoulding lags in production, equipment and tooling 3. Rotomoulding lags in dimensional stability, material selection, ease of material/part handling 4. Rotomoulding lags in energy efficiency, cycle time, process monitoring/control

9 Current Technical Status of our Industry So what do we do? Nothing Moan / complain about the competition Continue to fiddle with the process without real technical input Play around with samples from material suppliers but never really evaluate

10 Current Technical Status of our Industry So what should we do? Try to understand, monitor and eventually control the process better Adopt innovative technologies Consolidate and share technical advances for the sake of the industry Support major R&D / academic efforts to improve and advance the process

11 Future Proofing the Rotomoulding Industry The Rotational moulding industry in Europe consists of some 350+ companies around 90% of which are SME s. Representing almost 30% of the global rotomoulding community. The EU sector is affected by globalisation and increased competition. This is especially significant for rotomoulding, as it is currently a labour-intensive and relatively slow process. Therefore, continual innovation and expansion into new areas and applications is necessary in order to keep the rotomoulding community at the forefront.

12 European Commission Research For SMEs The EU Commission helps provide support aimed at SMEs or SME Associations in need of outsourcing research where... R&D carried out by RTD s on behalf of SMEs / Industrial Associations in order to expand their knowledge base and to improve their general standard of competitiveness.

13 QUB Rotomoulding European Funded R&D Projects 1. Intelligent Process Control for Rotational Moulding (Internal Cooling ~ 500k Completed July 02) 2. Development of innovative high performance anodised aluminium moulding tools for the thermoplastic processing sector to achieve competitive advantage (Alamo ~ 600k Completed Jan 06) 3. Development of an efficient heating and cooling technology system for the reduction of cycle time, product cost and energy consumption (Rotofast ~ 2.66m started Aug 10)

14 QUB Rotomoulding European Funded R&D Projects 4. Development of an automated process to extract natural fibres from waste food production for exploitation as a sustainable reinforcement in injection and rotomoulded products (Badana ~ 700k started July 09)

15 QUB Rotomoulding European Funded R&D Projects 5. The Development Of Advanced Retro-Fit Processing Technologies For Rotational Moulding To Reduce Product Cost and Processing Time and Increase Surface Quality (Micromelt ~ 2.55m Completed Aug 09 )

16 Future Proofing the Rotomoulding Industry Supporting Industry through Collaborative Research

17 Multi-layer Applications Total Concept Car Manufactured using BIO TP-Seal Technology 2011 Frankfurt Motorshow

18 Total Concept Car Total Petrochemicals recently introduced a fully developed, pioneering new concept car at the IAA Motor Show, Frankfurt, September The biennial IAA Frankfurt Motor Show is the largest gathering of automotive companies in the world comprising car producers, designers, engineers and equipment suppliers.

19 Total Concept Car Manufactured using BIO TP-Seal Technology Initial Concepts

20 Total Concept Car Note: PLA / PE blends skin and three layer foam sandwich construction optimisation by QUB at Floatex, Italy

21 Total Concept Car Manufactured using BIO TP-Seal Technology Note: Automotive testing by Hutchinson, France

22 Total Concept Car Manufactured using BIO TP-Seal Technology Automotive surface finishes PU foam bonding

23 Future Proofing the Rotomoulding Industry Rotoflex Project

24 Rotoflex FP7 EU Rotomoulding Project Innovative rotomoulding development to improve cycle times and process efficiency whilst facilitating greater flexibility in product design and integrity for the SME-rotomoulding sector Start Date: 1 st January 2009 Finish Date: 31 st December 2011 Total Project Value 1.23m (

25 Overall Technical Strategy Development of a universal automatic feed system that can be attached to any mould, so that materials and fluids may be fed at any stage in the cycle. Develop a system that can be configured to fit existing rotomoulding machines without interfering with the rotation apparatus, mould function or the heating / cooling operations.

26 Arm Direct Fed Configuration Shuttle / Carousel Material Hopper Counter balance Oven Turret Arm 1 Mould

27 Oven Direct Fed Configuration Shuttle / Carousel Material Hopper Counter balance Oven Turret Arm 1 Mould

28 Technical Strategy Selection and development of robotic place arm Development of material feed pipe along robotic arm Flow rates along feed pipe / diameters Position of robotic arm / insulation of robotic arm Modifications to oven wall / roof to accommodate robotic arm Movement and control of robotic arm

29 Technical Strategy Development of feed pipe end connection Development of connection mechanism Development of mould end connection Machine control mechanism to position arm / mould Mould positioning to accommodate connection and mould filling / multi-shot moulding

30 Off-Line Test Rig

31 Installation of Material Feed System

32 Installation of Auto-Park System Allow the positioning of the mould in the correct orientation in both the plate and arm directions to allow for correct alignment of the feeder

33 Test Mould with Profit Pins 4 kg of Natural PE in mould from start (No material added) normal cycle carried out Temp(ºC) kg 150ºC Trial Oven Int. Air Mould Source : Maack Business Services Time (min)

34 Two Layer & Four Layer Mouldings

35 Material Feed System 3 Day Validation

36 Material Feed System Dissemination Substantial testing and rotomoulding trials completed Industrial validation trials completed Processing parameters optimised: e.g. skin-foam-skin; multi-layer engineering polymer structures as well as fibre-reinforced composites

37 European Commission Research For SME Organisations Micromelt Project

38 Micromelt Rotomoulding Project The Development Of Advanced Retro-Fit Processing Technologies For Rotational Moulding To Reduce Product Cost and Processing Time and Increase Surface Quality Start Date: 1st September 2006 Finish Date: 31 st August 2009 Total Project Value 2.55m

39 Micromelt Rotomoulding Project

40 Micromelt Rotomoulding Project Develop microwave tool heating process Develop coating receptive to microwaves to act as surface heating layer Develop mould preparation process and materials to withstand thermal cycling and provide good surface finish Develop internal mould water spray cooling

41 Internal Mould Water Spray Cooling Fundamental understanding of the effect of water spray to cool molten polyethylene spray nozzles, water characteristics, etc Experimental Nozzle Type DOE Study Test mould analysis Mechanical and Shrinkage Testing Industrial Water Cooling Trials Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA)

42 The Advantage of Internal Cooling By accurately controlling cooling both internally and externally, very high rates of cooling can be achieved without warpage.

43 Factors Effecting Internal Water Cooling Water volume Size of droplets Velocity of droplets Mass flow rate Water / Air pressure Spray distance Duration of internal water cooling Internal water initiation temperature Outcomes Cooling rate Part quality Shrinkage / Warpage Ambient Nozzle A Nozzle B

44 Industrial Internal Water Cooling Trials and Training Koever, Germany 450 B almoral Trial S eptic Mould S eptic Oven S eptic 61 Balmoral Tanks, Scotland Temperature (ºC ) Int. Air S eptic Sturdy Products, Ireland Time (min) Hako, Germany K over Trial Normal C ooling Vs. Water C ooling Techniform, England Temperature (ºC ) Mould Water C ool Int. Air Water C ool Mould Air C ool Int. Air Air C ool Time (min)

45 Steel Test Mould Internal Air Ext. Water Cooling Vs. Ext. Water + Int. Water Cooling Sturdy Mould - Ext. Air Cool Only % Air Cool Int. Air 100% Air Cool Melt Steel Mould Shot weight = 8.4kg Wall thickness ~ 6mm Dim: 500 x 500 x 520mm Temp. (ºC) :00:00 00:07:12 00:14:24 00:21:36 00:28:48 00:36:00 00:43:12 00:50:24 Time (min) Sturdy Mould - Comparison of Int. Air at 180ºC Sturdy Mould - Comparison of Int. Air at 120ºC ºC Ext Water Cool Int. Air 180ºC Ext + Int Water Int. Air ºC Ext Water Cool Int. Air 120ºC Ext + Int Water Int. Air Temp. (ºC) Temp. (ºC) :00:00 00:07:12 00:14:24 00:21:36 00:28:48 00:36:00 Time (min) 0 00:00:00 00:07:12 00:14:24 00:21:36 00:28:48 00:36:00 00:43:12 Time (min)

46 Steel Test Mould Ext. Water Cooling Vs. Ext. Water + Int. Water Cooling Sturdy Mould - Comparison of Ext. Water and Ext. Air ºC Ext Water Cool Int. Air 180ºC Ext Water Cool Melt 120ºC Ext Water Cool Melt 120ºC Ext Water Cool Int. Air 100% Air Cool Int. Air 100% Air Cool Melt 150 Temp. (ºC) :00:00 00:07:12 00:14:24 00:21:36 00:28:48 00:36:00 00:43:12 00:50:24 Time (min)

47 External and Internal Water Cooling Ext. Water Cooling Only Ext.+ Int. Water Cooling

48 Internal Water Cooling Industrial street cleaning product Int. + Ext. Water Cool External Air Cool

49 Industrial Trials to date: Average cycletime savings of 15-20% achievable with no effect on inside surface quality With further optimisation 25%+ possible combining external water cooling and applying internal water at higher internal air temperatures Dissemination Papers / Articles: The Development of Internal Water Cooling Techniques for the Rotational Moulding Process ANTEC 2009 pp The Effects of Water Droplet Size and Velocity on Spray Cooling of Polymers during Rotational Moulding ANTEC 2009 pp Pan-European Rotomoulding Research: The Micromelt Project Volume IV, Issue 6, November December 2008 Rotoworld Article, The Use of Internal Mould Cooling in the Rotational Moulding Process Volume V, Issue 3, May-June 2009

50 Collaboration = Results Maus GmbH, mould makers, Germany and Queens University, Belfast partner on the development of a self contained, automatic, internal water cooling spray device - Rotocooler

51 Rotocooler The Rotocooler device attaches and travels with the mould. At the appropriate temperature / time it accurately sprays a controlled water jet into the centre of the rotating moulding. The effect of this is to internally cool the plastic part. There is no detrimental effect on part quality. There is no detrimental effect on mechanical properties. There is a reduction in cooling time. There is a reduction in warpage / shrinkage. Balanced internal / external cooling is achievable.

52 Rotocooler For further details on Rotocooler contact: Oliver Wandres Maus Am Viehweg 9 - D Karlsruhe Tel.: +49-(0) Fax: -44

53 Research and Development R & D is a process intended to create new or improved technology that can provide a competitive advantage. An R&D project to improve a product or service has a far higher chance of success than one aimed at creating a completely new product or service. While the rewards can be very high, the process of technological innovation is complex and risky. R&D always carries an element of risk Returns from R&D can be considerably greater than for other investments - and could even ensure your business' future survival.

54 Industrial Collaborations Mark Kearns Moulding Research Manager Polymer Processing Research Centre Ashby Building Stranmillis Road Belfast N. Ireland BT9 5AH T: F: