PACKAGING | TECHNOLOGY
One other experiment that was conducted by
Above: Production of IML bowls made using MuCell on a Yizumi PAC250K machine
– and which have elevated requirements for the nitrogen gas. “So now, we feel we have the full technology package necessary for injection moulding packaging,” he says. “We now have lots of packaging applications,
covered by NDAs so we obviously can’t talk about them. There are lots of exciting things going on.” At present, packaging accounts for less than 5% of all applications for MuCell. “Three years from now, we expect the figure to be more like 50%,” Bechard says. Bechard also highlights how MuCell facilitates the use of higher amounts of post-consumer recyclate (PCR) in production of new containers. “A lot of people want to use more PCR, but the resin might not flow as well as it needs to. MuCell reduces melt viscosity, and so helps overcome this problem. Brand owners we are talking to see benefits in being able to create new designs, to use more PCR, and to make packaging on smaller machines. They are looking well beyond the simple matter of weight reduction.” In addition to containers, normally made in PP,
MuCell can also be used in production of PET preforms with high levels of PCR, creating opaque products with a pearlescent effect. Typical end-use application is shampoo bottles. At Chinaplas this year, MuCell was used in an
interesting application demonstrated by major Chinese injection equipment producer Yizumi. One-litre PP bowls with a 0.5mm nominal wall were made on a PAC250K machine fitted with a two- cavity mould. Yizumi was able to achieve 5% weight reduction, 16% injection pressure reduction, and 20% clamp force reduction. “Beyond these ben- efits, the resulting foamed part has a firmer, thicker feel than its solid counterpart and also has a 15% reduction in thermal conductivity, so insulation is improved,” Bechard says. “There was no penalty nor benefit regarding cycle time – the foamed part and solid cycle time were identical.”
16 INJECTION WORLD | July/August 2021
Yizumi before the show focused on lower-grade resins. Bechard says: “Lower-cost, lower-MFI PPs that failed in solid moulding due to exceeding maximum injection pressures on the machine were possible when moulded in MuCell.” Yizumi has been collaborating with Trexel since 2017, when the two companies were brought together by Yizumi’s Chief Strategy Officer Hans Wobbe (who has also had spells with KraussMaffei and Engel). Yizumi is putting a strong emphasis on packag- ing applications in general. Yuxiao Zhang, Product Manager, Injection Moulding Special Processes, at Yizumi Germany, points out that the company has created a division devoted to the sector, with a focus on thin-wall products. The company recently developed a new range of machines for packaging, with clamp forces ranging from 1,500 to 5,500 kN. The company is not alone among Chinese machine makers in increasing offerings for packag- ing. At Chinaplas 2021, Haitian Plastics Machinery introduced a new version of the best-selling Mars Series suitable for packaging applications. The MA/K is the fastest of the Mars series with injection rates of 1,000 mm/s. It is being rolled out in world markets: first in Asia now, next in Europe and then North and South America. Haitian also offers the new MA/F fast-cycling moulding machine, with injection rates of 500 mm/s. Bechard notes that other technology providers
are also offering ways to make bowls and cups with improved insulation. For example, EcoCore, pro- vided by UK company Bockatech (see Thin-Wall Moulding feature in Injection World March 2020 for more details), creates components with skin-foam- skin walls that are also lightweight and high strength. EcoCore uses innovations in materials, process- es and component designs to enable foamed parts to be moulded rapidly — at the same rate as regular
Above: Photo of the cell structure within a thin-wall container injection moulded by Yizumi using MuCell. The largest cells are approximately 10 microns in diameter with an average cell size below 5 microns
www.injectionworld.com
IMAGE: YIZUMI
IMAGE: YIZUMI
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