Extrusion International 6-2025

24 Extrusion International 6/2025 Labs Offer Materials and Extrusion Testing Guill Tool has expanded its lab ca- pabilities to better serve the global extrusion market with the creation of Guill Labs. The labs include the company’s state-of-the-art rheolo- gy lab and a facility focused entirely on the extrusion process. Guill’s existing rheology lab mea- sures the ow characteristics of plas - tics and rubber to predict how a cus- tomer’s material will ow through the company’s extrusion dies before production. Tooling geometry is vir- tually optimized, and the project can be viewed in 3D CAD. Machines used include a rotational rheometer, scan- ning calorimeter, thermal conductiv- ity meter and a new CT scanner. The rotational rheometer quickly generates visco-elastic data for polymer melts, precisely capturing polymer melt properties. Test tem- perature ranges between ambient and 300°C. The lab’s scanning calo- rimeter characterizes the thermal properties of a polymer sample, such as crystallization temperature, glass transition temperature and head capacity of the sample. Know- ing these thermal properties per- mits the simulation of shear heating and hot and cold spots in the ow area. The thermal conductivity me- ter is used to determine the thermal conductivity of the polymer sample across a range of temperatures. This in-house lab provides faster turnaround on test results, reduc- ing delays during the design process and offering better control over the testing parameters. The result is a high-quality part delivered on time. The new test extrusion facility fea- tures various pieces of equipment including two Killion 1.25" extrud- ers, an RDN 2.0 PVS vacuum tank, one Keyence LS9000 dual axis laser gauge, two Dri Air ARID-X 10 30lb capacity driers, a custom-built tub- ing puller and an Accurate Thermal Systems FTBLL47 uidized bath. In Reciprocating Head for Medical Tubing Introduced Guill Tool, a global manufacturer of extrusion tooling, has released its new reciprocating head. The traditional tip and die assembly is replaced with a linear recipro- cating assembly that changes the tube’s pro le within a given length. This process is repeated throughout a single extrusion run without interruptions. Cutting ca- pability, in association with the extrusion speed, cuts the nished product to length. While cost and value stream activities are reduced, quality is improved. Only one extrusion run is needed to produce a nished product, as opposed to multiple ex - trusion runs with tooling changes along with a manual assembly operation to connect different tubing shapes. Guill’s new reciprocating head eliminates an entire as- sembly operation. It also eliminates in-process invento- ry. Thus, there is no need for storage of various tubing shapes and connectors needed for assembly, ful llment of orders and replenishment of nished goods. Furthermore, the reciprocating head eliminates a connecting piece, allows JIT production and products made-to-order. Lastly, it reduces total run time from re- ceiving the order to shipping. Such tubing is typically used in wound drain opera- tions and other medical applications. Close-up of the IM-8000 Series, a dimensional measurement system The rheology lab’s scanning calorimeter