In a final flourish rounding off a prosperous 2015, Arburg will be demonstrating its plastics processing prowess at PLAST EURASIA in Istanbul from December 3rd-6th 2015.
Arburg
The Lossburg-based industry leader will demonstrate its credentials as an all-round partner to the plastics processing industry with a product range extending from the additive manufacturing of one-off parts and small-volume batches from qualified standard granulate to the automated injection moulding of mass-produced items. Two examples of this versatile application range: the Freeformer will be presented to the Turkish market for the first time, while an automated, high-speed IML injection moulding application with a hybrid Allrounder will demonstrate performance capability in the packaging sector.
Engin Malcan, Managing Director at Arburg Turkey, stated: "With our innovative technology, we are ideally positioned for the Turkish market. As the second-largest plastics manufacturer in Europe, Turkey is increasingly demanding the kind of high-end solutions that we can provide. Europe meets Asia at the PLAST EURASIA and the Istanbul Exhibition Centre, providing the ideal opportunity to present our technology in detail and to make contact with customers and other interested parties."
Premiere for the Freeformer
The trade fair celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, providing a perfect backdrop for the first presentation of the Freeformer in Turkey. The innovative system for additive manufacturing was
developed by Arburg on the basis of decades of expertise in machine construction and plastics processing as well as practical knowledge of the needs of the plastics processing industry. The system uses the patented Arburg Plastic Freeforming (APF) to produce fully functional plastic parts from inexpensive standard plastic granulates based on 3D CAD data without a mould - just one of the advantages over other additive manufacturing processes.
The Freeformer is equipped with a movable three-axis part carrier and two stationary discharge units as standard. The second unit can be used for an additional component in order, for example, to produce a part in different colours, with special tactile qualities, or as a hard/soft combination. A special support material will be used as the second component at the PLAST EURASIA. This also makes it possible to achieve unusual or complex part geometries. The supporting structures can be removed later in a water bath.
The granulate is melted in a plasticising cylinder as with injection moulding. A stationary discharge unit with a special nozzle applies the plastic droplets layer-by-layer onto a component carrier using high-frequency piezo technology. The moving part carrier is positioned so that each drop falls onto a precisely predetermined point. The desired three-dimensional component is thus created layer by layer.
Fully automated production: IML containers with handles
The demonstration of an automated production cell for producing 0.8-litre containers with handles is specially tailored to the dynamic packaging market. The hybrid Allrounder 720 H with 2,900 kN clamping force and size 1300 injection unit used for thin-walled production comes in a special "Packaging" version. The two-cavity mould and the automation system for inserting the labels and removing and stacking the thin-walled moulded parts come from Turkish IML specialists and Arburg cooperation partners Erkoҫ and Roboplas from Istanbul. The cycle time is around 4.9 seconds.
High demands on machine technology
Arburg offers a Packaging version (P) for the Hidrive and Alldrive machines specially tailored to the rigorous demands of the packaging industry. For example, the combination of "distance between tie bars - clamping force - opening stroke" is specially designed for the particular performance characteristics required here. This enables energy to be reduced by up to 30 per cent compared with hydraulic closing systems. Over and above the basic equipment, special features are available for the production of thin-walled parts and screw caps, enabling the machines to be individually tailored to the relevant application.