Robix develops new manufacturing technique

Citation

(2003), "Robix develops new manufacturing technique", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 32 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2003.12932bab.004

Robix develops new manufacturing technique

Robix develops new manufacturing technique

Keywords: Robix, Manufacturing, Polymers

Specialist engineering plastics processor Robix has developed a manufacturing technique to produce Victrex Peek polymer circular extrusions of between 600 and 1,200 mm diameter with wall thickness up to 25 × 19 mm, from existing tooling.

Building on the proprietary Robix production technology, this unique system is capable of producing up to 3 m diameter extrusions with even larger cross sections.

The product is produced as a continuous “spiral” and sections are then cut and joined to complete the circle by melt bonding.

The joint integrity of the completed “circle” has been verified by X-ray photography. The product can then be shipped to end users for finish machining.

The process has been used successfully with all standard viscosity Victrex Peek polymer grades (filled and unfilled) and can be used for short or long production runs. Other engineering polymers may also be extruded by this method.

This new production technique offers flexibility which was hitherto unavailable; previous solutions would have been to machine parts from large section billets or stock-shape tubes with high material wastage and machining costs.