Page 62 - Plastics News February 2024

IN THE NEWS

onto metal or plastic components. While ENGEL duo injection mould-
On top of this, there are cable lead- ing machines have been available with
throughs, which are made of LSR. clamping forces of up to 5500 tonnes
The bipolar plates, of which several as standard machines for a long time,
hundred are needed for each fuel cell, ENGEL has now extended the series
are made of metal, but Fischer is con- upwards for new applications in the
vinced that this could change in the mobility sector and other industries.
long term. "We are already develop- Besides parts with a particularly large
ing injection moulding solutions for surface area and volume, these new
thermoplastic-based bipolar plates. mega machines with their extremely
The challenge is the sheet thickness of The large mould installation space – large mould mounting spaces enable
only a few tenths of a millimetre; we shown on an injection moulding ma- even more extensive process integra-
are combining thin-wall technologies chine with a clamping force of 8000 tion – for example in the glazing sec-
with injection compression moulding tonnes here – opens up new opportu- tor.
for this." nities for very large parts on the one "Clamping forces of more than 10,000
hand and highly integrated processes
Thermoplastics are also increasingly on the other tonnes and shot weights of several
replacing steel and aluminium sheet hundred kilograms are already tech-
for battery housings and trays in elec- to be able to reliably absorb the high nically feasible today," said Stefan
tric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. For loads," as Fischer explained. "On top Engleder providing an outlook and
example, Envalior – which emerged of this, the large-volume part and the underlining the commitment which
from DSM Engineering Materials and very high shot weight require a par- ENGEL has to building a new dimen-
the High Performance Materials busi- ticularly large injection moulding ma- sion of large machines. "We have cre-
ness unit of Lanxess – is developing an chine. We are planning on an ENGEL ated assembly capacity for this at both
innovative battery tray made of poly- duo machine with a clamping force of the large machine plant in St. Valen-
amide with a high glass fibre content. 8000 tonnes." tin, Austria, and in Shanghai, China.
The wall thickness is less than 7 mm Around the world, we are helping our
with a single shot weight of 60 kg. Injection moulding machines of customers to solve the new mobility
"The challenge is for the plastic design 10,000 tonnes and more challenges."

Resin Price Report: February Brings Out the Bulls

growing convoy of packaged truck-
loads also changed hands, according
to the resin clearinghouse’s Market
Update.
A bullish shift in sentiment came mid-
week, just as the calendar turned.
Leading into month-end, there was
some negativity on the seller side
stemming from well-discounted poly-
ethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP)
railcars, mostly off grade but some
Prime, as well. The market tone be-
came more positive when February
began: Producers raised railcar asking
he PlasticsExchange reports solid last month’s results surpassed January prices and export offers jumped, too.
Tbusiness in the spot resin markets 2023. Bulk railcars accounted for the It is not unusual for prices to change
as January slipped into February — majority of completed volume, but a month to month, but it was very no-

64 PLASTICS NEWS February 2024