The plastic extrusion process is not something to take for granted, as is usually the case in today's age. We have grown up living so comfortably that it is easy for us to forget that things have not always been that way. In the last few decades, our demand for plastic has increased at least tenfold, and what we knew in the 1920's could never suffice now in 2010! People have had to work tirelessly to figure out new ways for the plastic product manufacturing process to be cheaper, easier, and more productive. Thankfully, it has not been in vain; we would be nowhere as advanced as we are now without them. All of this is fact, and in my opinion simply not debatable, so why don't more people know about it? These are the things I've begun to ask myself since taking a deeper look into plastic extrusion.

Plastic extrusion refers to the process that thermosetting plastics and thermoplastics go through in order to become products that consumers shop for every day. These plastics are melted, shaped, and molded into one continuous profile. These are cut into desired lengths, depending on the length specified by one of the engineers in charge of working the machine. This is how literally thousands of products are made every day, even something as essential to some places as hurricane shutters!

In order to begin the process, plastic extrusion companies purchase mass quantities of raw plastic in the shape of small beads. These beads are referred to as resin in the industry, and are essential for the entirety of the process. Before placing the resin into the plastic extrusion machine, colorants are added in order to allow for even more plastic options. Sometimes, depending on the plastic product a company is setting out to make, UV ray protecting material will be mixed in with the resin, and then advertised as such on the final product.

After additives have been mixed in with the resin, it is fed into the plastic extruder barrel, which marks the first job of the machine. The material falls through an opening at the bottom of the barrel, where it is met with an industrial sized screw. The first plastic extrusion machine to employ the use of screw revolutionized the process for all future participants. The screw twists and turns, forcing the material through the extruder cavity.

Once reentering the extruder cavity, heaters are ignited that are set to gradually heat and melt the plastic to a certain optimal temperature. This temperature has to be very hot in order to melt the plastic accurately, and is usually around 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius). Depending on the size of the machine, there can be two and sometimes three heaters working together to heat the plastic material. This reduces the chance that overheating will be involved, potentially ruining the process if allowed to get too out of hand.

There are other things that have been added to the complexity of the plastic extrusion machine in order to keep it from getting overheated. If, for instance, the temperature exceeds the one that the machine was previously set to, the heaters are shut off and cooling fans turned on. Instead of reducing the heat so much that it ruins the product still, the plastic maintains the average heat by force and pressure. Talk about having all areas covered!

Then, the injection molded parts hit the front of the barrel, where they leave the screw and enter a filter specifically for filtering any contaminants that may be in the plastic. The filter is comprised of a series of screens which allow for optimum performance. After the molten material is fed through the filters, it enters into the final part of the machine, called a die. The die shapes and profiles the molten plastic in order to fit the design for the product at hand.

The final step, and arguably the most important one at that, is the the cooling process. This is where plastic manufacturing companies rely on trained specialists to pay careful attention to how the hot, now completely formed, plastic products are cooled. The most common way of cooling the plastic is by placing it into a sort of tub referred to as a sealed-water bath. Sometimes, when making plastic sheeting or other thin plastic materials, companies use cooling rolls instead.