The international plastic trade fair Feiplastic (former Brasilplast) is the largest space in Latin America for networking and presenting the latest trends and product launchings in the plastics sector. This year’s show will take place from May 20-24 in the Anhembi exhibition pavilion in São Paulo, Brazil. At the 85,000m2 exhibition area, the organisers are expecting about 70,000 international visitors.
Product range of TPEs
Stand C-83
For Kraiburg TPE, it will be the first appearance at Feiplastic. The decision was made to participate in this year’s trade show due to growing business opportunities with key end users and processors in Brazil.
The company will showcase its broad product TPE offering including Thermolast K, W, M, Copec and For-Tec E. Thermolast K materials are used in virtually any industry and can be processed via injection moulding, extrusion or blow moulding. The compounds are said to maintain their coefficient of friction when wet unlike typical TPEs which are usually slippery when wet. It is claimed that this attribute makes Thermolast W a good fit for sports equipment, catering trays, and essentially any gripping application where surface moisture is present.
Kraiburg TPE will also showcase its Thermolast M series for medical and pharmaceutical sectors. These materials offer USP Class 6.6.1, DIN ISO 10933-4, -5, -10 and -11 approvals and are used for medical and surgical equipment.
Lastly, the company will discuss its latest product introduction, Copec and For-Tec E TPEs for consumer applications. These two series are said to offer chemical resistance against hand oils and velvet-like haptics (Copec) and good nylon bonding (For-Tec E), making them an ingredient for electronics products. They are useful for end products that are touched and handled frequently.
In South Brazil, Kraiburg TPE appointed Dax Resinas as a new distributor in November 2012. The company is a distributor of petrochemical products and its main objective is to support plastic converters, supplying polymers and plastics specialities. Dax Resinas’ subsidiaries and branch companies are located in key cities in southern Brazil including Novo Hamburgo, Caxias do Sul, Itajaí (port) and Pinhais.
www.kraiburg-tpe.com
25th anniversary celebrations
Stand A-70
Styron Automotive will use their participation at Feiplastic to celebrate their 25th anniversary for Styron Automotive Brazil. The facility based in Limao provides customers with high quality specialised material solutions. The Brancor and Brancom PP resins, for instance, are renowned for their ease of processing combined with good heat and UV stabilisation. These compounded resins have been used in several premium quality interior and exterior applications of local and global automotive manufacturers in Brazil.
The automotive team will present its entire product portfolio of engineering resins ranging from polypropylene compounds that are established products in the Brazil market to new products such as LGF PP, ABS, PC/ABS resins for automotive interior, exterior and structural applications at the show.
www.styron.com
Engineering plastics made in Brazil
Stand F-89
So.f.ter. Brasil Compostos Termoplasticos – an affiliated company of the Italian group So.f.ter. – known for the production of TPE and TPV, has expanded its range to include engineering plastics. The materials produced in South America are the polypropylene compound Polifor and Tecnoprene as well as the polyamides Nylfor and Nivionplast.
These products offer a wide range of specialities such as filled, glass fibre reinforced, flame retardant, elastomer-modified grades with good mechanical and thermal properties for all application needs. Many of these materials have already been approved by leading manufacturers in the automotive and appliance industry.
www.softerbra.com.br
Windscreen grid as a sample application for the use of hard-soft-bi-material (photo: So.f.ter.)
Engineering plastics for a range of applications
Stand E-60
DSM will be exhibiting high performance engineering plastics for the automotive, electrical and electronics, flexible food packaging and consumer goods industries.
Performance materials from DSM for the automotive industry include the high-temperature polyamide Stanyl Diablo OCD 2305 BM, suitable for processing by extrusion blow moulding. The material, which withstands temperatures up to 230°C is suitable for hot charge air ducts. Another material on display, the thermoplastic copolyester Arnitel, is said to be a potential PA12 replacement in vacuum brake tubes. Other solutions for the automotive industry include the PA6 Akulon for applications from turbo resonators to air inlet manifolds, Akulon Ultraflow with an improved flow and injection moulding cycle versus regular PA6, and EcoPaXX PA410, a bio-based plastic with 70% of this innovative polymer’s building blocks stemming from castor oil.
For the electrical and electronics market, DSM offers a product portfolio of halogen free high performance polyamides based on Stanyl PA46 and Stanyl ForTii. Thanks to its flow properties, Stanyl is said to deliver freedom of design for industries that manufacture components for computers and telephones. For the connector and miniature components market Stanyl ForTii is claimed to only perform well at the high, lead-free assembly temperature required to make modern electronics, and not to contain any halogens or red phosphorous.
For food packaging, the barrier material Akulon can extend the shelf life of packaged food and thereby avoid the environmental impact of food waste, according to DSM. A blend of Akulon and Arnitel is utilised in smokable sausage casings for a breathable, high-quality film.
As far as the consumer goods industry is concerned, DSM prioritises products with less hazardous substances, more bio-based content, better recyclability and reduced environmental impact. Arnitel VT is a flexible thermoplastic copolyester that, when made into membranes just a few microns thick, is 100% waterproof but also breathable and comfortable. The material contains no perfluorinated chemicals (PFC) and is 100% recyclable. Arnitel Eco, formulated with 40% of materials from renewable sources, provides resistance to ultraviolet radiation and high heat resistance. It is designed to last a long lifetime under extreme conditions, making it suited for food related applications as well as for use in sports and leisure and furniture. Akulon Fuel Lock HP-FL40 is a PA6 having the ability to use three types of moulding techniques (blow moulding / injection moulding / roto moulding) for fuel tanks. The tanks are used to power portable engines for lawn, garden, land and equipment as well as professional and leisure applications.
www.dsm.com
Fuel tank (photo: DSM)
Energy efficient plastics processing
Stand E-12
Energy efficiency will be the big issue for Engel at Feiplastic. The highlight of the exhibits on show at Engel’s stand will be an e-mac 310/110 injection moulding machine. With acceleration of over 20m/s², the injection axis of the Engel e-mac is said to be the fastest when compared with competitor machines. The synchronous movements of the drive axes also reduce cycle times. All drives in the Engel e-mac are servo-electric and are operated by a modern axis system solution with stabilised intermediate circuit; braking energy is recovered and fed back into the grid.
The all-electric e-mac injection moulding machine will be unveiled to a South American trade audience in São Paulo for the first time. (photo: Engel)
With injection speeds of over 500mm/s, the e-motion series is intended to combine maximum output with minimum energy consumption. During the fair, Engel will produce drinks containers using an e-motion 940/280 T with a four-cavity mould from Glaroform of Näfels, Switzerland. Thanks to integrated in-mould labelling, ready-for-use packaging components will be created in a single work step with a cycle time of 6s. The project partners for in-mould labelling are Beck Automation, Oberengstringen/Switzerland and the label producer Verstraete of Maldegem/Belgium.
Minimal energy consumption values are not the exclusive preserve of all-electric injection moulding machines, as the hydraulic victory 200/80 tech injection moulding machine fitted with energy-saving ecodrive option will testify. Thanks to the servo hydraulic ecodrive, hydraulic injection moulding machines achieve energy savings of up to 70% by reducing energy losses.
Directly attaching plastic parts to cables, metal inserts or components of other materials is another element in process integration. Injection moulding machines with vertical clamping units offer advantages in this area, both in the manual fitting of moulds and in automation. At the show, Engel will use an insert 200/90 injection moulding machine with ecodrive to demonstrate how these benefits can impact on day-to-day business operations.
www.engelglobal.com
Efficient automated production
Stand H-28
South American processors are interested in both increased automation of injection moulding sequences and in electric machines with a coherent price/performance ratio. The packaging sector is also enjoying a boom in this region. Arburg has put together its programme for the Feiplastic in response to these demands.
The electric Edrive series is characterised by precision, reproducibility, energy efficiency and minimised emissions. Due to its good price/performance ratio, the Allrounder Edrive is claimed to be an interesting alternative to hydraulic machine technology. At the exhibition, an Allrounder 520 E with a clamping force of 1,500kN and a size 400 injection unit will injection mould stackable CD trays with a single-cavity mould.
The second exhibit belongs to the hybrid Hidrive series, which is designed for packaging applications due to its productivity, short cycle times and energy efficiency.
The hybrid Allrounder 570 H will demonstrate its performance capabilities at the Feiplastic with an IML application for the packaging industry.
The hybrid Allrounder 570 H exhibited at the Feiplastic has a clamping force of 2,000kN and size 800 injection unit. It produces tub lids using the in-mould labelling process, in a cycle time of 5s. The moulded part weight is 6.1g/lid, and the material throughput is around 26kg/h. The use of transparent material and a film printed on both sides from Verstraete endows the lids with a decorative surface both inside and out.
The six-cavity mould comes from RK Ferramentaria, the robotic system for feeding the labels and removing parts from OK Automation – both accredited suppliers from Brazil.
www.arburg.com
Highlights for pipe and profile extrusion
Stand B-2
To further improve its communication with and service for the Brazilian market, Battenfeld-Cincinnati has established a local company, Battenfeld-Cincinnati do Brasil. The office is located in Jundiai. The team will be introduced at the trade show.
The company will also be presenting new machine highlights for pipe and profile extrusion. The single screw extruders of the solEx series are designed for high-performance machines to produce HD-PE and PP pipes. Outputs range from 240 to 2,200kg/h, depending on application and material.
The twinEx series of parallel twin screw extruders has a 34D processing length and is said to be flexible, with a good price/performance ratio. In pipe extrusion, outputs between 200 and 1,700kg/h for solid PVC, M-PVC, O-PVC and three-layer PVC pipes are standard values, for profile extrusion the outputs range from 120 to 1,000kg/h.
Battenfeld-Cincinnati also offers wood plastic composite/natural fibre composite WPC/NFC equipment for many applications, including cost-efficient co-extrusion solutions. The WPC extruder series fiberEx covers an output range from 15 to 1,000kg/h.
For pipe production, complete extrusion lines are available for standard sizes, but also for the largest applications on the market – PE pipe with diameters of up to 2,500mm and PVC pipe with diameters of up to 1,300mm.
Multi-Touch roll stack (photo: battenfeld-cincinnati)
In addition , Battenfeld-Cincinnati is presenting its Green Pipe concept – solutions for saving material and energy – as well as machinery for the production of multi-layer sheets for packaging applications. On offer is a single screw extruder series with outputs of up to 1,500kg/h for PP and up to 2,000kg/h for PS, with matching downstream components. The Multi-Touch roll stack is a new product. It is claimed to meet the requirements for good transparency and optimal mechanical values as well as low shrinkage.
www.battenfeld-cincinnati.com
Fully electric injection moulding machine as a packaging talent
Stand H-90
The Brazilian subsidiary of the German-Japanese machine builder, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, will be profiling itself as a full-range supplier in the packaging area at Feiplastic. A fully electric SE 280 HSZ with 2,800 kN clamping force will be producing 1.5l containers with IML labels in a two-cavity mould made by the Brazilian manufacturer For-Plas Indústria de Embalagens. Imdecol, Israel is supplying the equipment for the label magazines. The containers weighng only 41g are made from polypropylene (PP), have a wall thickness of 0.75mm and are produced with a cycle time of 5.8s.
The peripherals comprise a compact two-circuit cooling machine from Mecalor, Brazil, a conveyor belt from Crizaf, Italy as well as a material conveyor and ink dosing machine from Moretto, Italy.
To date, the SE-HSZ is available with three clamping forces in the range from 2,200kN to 3,500kN.
www.sumitomo-shi-demag.eu
The fully electric SE-HSZ injection moulding machine – the model with 2,200kN clamping force is shown here. (photo: Sumitomo (SHI) Demag)