In the beginning of this project, I had expected to complete it in less than a year. Now, four years later, it has finally come to completion. Along the road, the pressures of limited resources and conflicting objectives changed the time line and contributors.
This book had ambitious goals set. What has resulted is an incomplete description of multilayer films and the technology to produce them. It is a snapshot that gives a comprehensive view of multilayer film designs and technology used. As in any evolving system, things change and what we can describe today may be somewhat different tomorrow. The value this book brings is that it will help interested parties to understand what is being made and how it is produced. This will help them deal with current problems and issues and move forward to invent new products and processes that will meet future challenges.
The authors who have contributed their time and extensive knowledge are industry experts and respected educators from around the world. They have shared their thoughts and ideas with you so that you can better understand this important technology and improve your contributions in your area of expertise.
The book is organized as follows:
Introduction
Raw materials
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Resins
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Additives
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Rheology
Die Design
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Flat
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Blown
Process Considerations
Technologies
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Blown film, cast film and lamination processes
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Machine direction orientation process
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Biaxial orientation
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Blending
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Coating technologies
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Vacuum deposited coating
Multilayer Film Designs
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PE based film
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Oriented films
Appendix: Writing guide for describing multilayer film structures.
As the technology of multilayer films is constantly developing, it is virtually impossible to have an up-to-the minute description of every multilayer film and technology used. So, this book, by definition, is only a snapshot of what is available. By reading this book, whether you are a manager, purchasing agent, user, engineer or technician, you can improve your knowledge and insight into this important technology that provides safety, freshness and visual appeal for point of sale awareness.
The introduction starts by presenting a historical perspective of the materials used to produce flexible plastic films. Then a look at how the markets for flexible plastic films have grown along with an extrapolation to 2020. The main body of this book is divided into three sections:
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materials
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hardware and processes
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multilayer film designs with applications.
In the materials section, there are chapters about polyethylene and polypropylene, the two major materials used for flexible film, a comprehensive chapter on additives used to make polymers functional and then a chapter on rheology which presents important concepts needed to understand non-Newtonian viscoelastic flow.
The hardware and process section begins with a chapter that describes the dies used to produce multilayer film. Annular dies are used for blown processes. The several ways multilayer dies can be designed are presented. Flat dies are used for cast and oriented films. Multilayer structures can be produced with multicavity dies, feedblocks and by combining feedblocks with multicavity dies.
There is a special chapter on process engineering and how important this function is to producing multilayer films that meet specifications and cost targets.
Then there follow chapters about the technologies used to produce multilayer films. The areas covered are production of multilayer films, laminating films to produce a structure that cannot be produced in a single step and coating processes. The chapter on blending is especially useful as blending technology is widely used and not always easy to understand.
The last section presents PE based and oriented film based multilayer structures. In these two chapters, you will learn about many different structures and their applications.
The Appendix presents a nomenclature or shorthand language that can be used to describe multilayer films.
Read. Learn. Enjoy.