Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022 - 16

16 * Plastics News, October 21, 2022
SHOW DAILY
Imfl ux' auto viscosity adjust feature lets
processors adapt to changing demands of PCR
By Catherine Kavanaugh
Plastics News Staff
IMFLUX INC.
As the plastics industry grapples
with solutions for a circular
economy, low-constant-pressure
molding is stepping up with
breakthrough advances to run
diffi cult sustainable materials, reduce
energy use and offer design
fl exibility to lightweight parts.
Developed by Hamilton, Ohiobased
Imfl ux Inc., a software and
engineering fi rm that is subsidiary
of Procter & Gamble, the
processing software called Imfl ux
uses low pressure and low heat
to mold while taking advantage of
the way polymers fl ow.
It's essentially the opposite to
conventional high-pressure, fastfi
ll injection molding. The process
is less abusive to the polymers,
has lower shear rates and expands
the capabilities of injection
molding machines to run more
post-consumer recycled content
(PCR), according to Imfl ux Chief
Technology Offi cer Gene Altonen.
Imfl ux has been partnering with
machine builders, starting with
Milacron in 2018, to integrate
the processing technology into
presses. The subsidiary also has
strong partnerships with JSW and
Haitian and is collaborating with
more than 20 other machine maker
OEMs to make Imfl ux broadly
available to injection molders
around the world.
In one demonstration at K 2022,
a Milacron injection molding machine
is producing custom krinkle
bags made from PCR with different
viscosities selected by trade
show attendees.
" We're letting people make their
own batch. They can mix whatever
blend they want between a 14 melt
fl ow index (MFI) and a 65 MFI, so
there's a very big swing in viscosity.
They feed it in and make their
Hall 15,
Booth D23
ing this industry see Imfl ux as an
opportunity to deliver greater
product consistency, productivity,
increase data from closed-loop control
and elevate machine control. "
This also has been a busy year
for the subsidiary with increased
interest in sustainable solutions,
reduced carbon footprints and the
desire to lightweight, which are all
addressed by Imfl ux, Altonen said.
" Imfl ux customer sites run
more reliably with fewer operator
adjustments, " he added. " Customers
produce higher-quality parts,
reduce costs and lower capital -
all while advancing their sustainability
efforts. "
Imfl ux holds more than 250
global patents for its technology.
The company also is getting
ready to launch a major new software
version in November. The
latest version of Imfl ux enhances
key features, such as automatic
viscosity
adjuster, auto-tuning,
Gene Altonen and Mary Wagner of Imfl ux Inc. display custom krinkle bags made from PCR with different
viscosities selected by trade show attendees.
Plastics News photo by Marco Stepniak
own unit, " Altonen said. " We're
showing the versatility of the system
to adapt to whatever viscosity
you throw at it. It recognizes the
change and still molds a perfect
part. We believe that's the future. "
When it comes to running PCR,
Altonen said the industry needs
to embrace variation.
" This means we need to embrace
technology solutions that
enable running highly variable
materials, since it is unnecessarily
expensive and complex to
attempt to remove this variation
from PCR material, " Altonen said.
Imfl ux offers the most effective
adaptive technology available to
handle this variation, he added,
pointing to the Auto Viscosity Adjust
feature, which automatically
adapts the process to the resin
viscosity
changes
experienced
with each shot.
The company recently has quantifi
ed the range of viscosity changes
the technology can handle.
" We enlisted the help of UL to
independently certify Imfl ux's
sustainability advantages, which
confi rmed Imfl ux's ability to run
+/- 50 percent variation in viscosity,
reduce energy consumption
by 15 percent and reduce part
weight by 4 percent, " Altonen
said. " These are advantages we
believe no other technology solution
can match, and they are proven
and available for immediate
implementation, which is what
the industry urgently needs. "
The company also has partnered
with Moldex3D, which has
automated the simulation curve
to fi nd the lowest pressure required
to fi ll a part.
In addition to enabling presses
to run extreme variation in resin
viscosity, Altonen said Imfl ux
compensates for issues such as
down cavities and leaking checkrings,
and makes intelligent process
adjustments on the operator's
behalf, avoiding the need for
operator touches.
Imfl ux is focused primarily on
the consumer products, automotive,
medical and electronics industries
as employees work with
other researchers and developers
to unlock new options.
" The medical industry is quite
hot, " Altonen said. " Molders servintelligent
default set points and
user wizards to setup new systems
and processes.
To access support, a new wireless
email feature connects the
user to a technical support team.
The new features will enhance
the user experience, simplify integration
on customer molding machines
and take the industry further
down the journey to autonomous
molding systems, Altonen said.
" The machine builder and Imfl
ux in collaboration must offer
solutions to run highly variable
PCR materials, reduce heat and
shear conditions for many sustainable
resins, reduce carbon
footprint through lower energy
consumption and enable lighter
parts, " Altonen said. " We are
watching a major transformation
in how machine builders
are prioritizing and innovating to
achieve these outcome, and we
see Imfl ux as a major enabler. "
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Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022

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