Views: 233 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-05-14 Origin: Site
Industry Background and Technological Evolution
Extrusion molding of sheet machines, as the core process of plastic processing, has become an important technology for manufacturing films, sheets, packaging materials, and industrial components due to its high-efficiency continuous production characteristics. Since the germination of extrusion technology in the 19th century, after iterations from single-screw to double-screw and intelligent control, the global market scale has continued to expand. According to industry data, as the world's largest sheet producer, China's extrusion molding equipment market scale exceeded 12 billion yuan in 2024, with an annual compound growth rate of 6.8%, and it is widely used in food packaging, construction, automotive, and electronic fields.
Currently, through precise control of temperature, pressure, and traction speed, the extrusion molding process can produce diversified products with a thickness ranging from 0.02mm to 25mm. Taking the three-roll calendering technology as an example, by adjusting the roll temperature (the middle roll is the highest, and the upper and lower rolls are next) and the die lip gap (small in the middle and large on both sides), it ensures the uniformity of the sheet thickness and avoids warping and deformation caused by internal stress.
Technological Innovation and Performance Breakthroughs
1. Intelligent and Precise Control
Modern sheet machines generally adopt a PID temperature control system and neural network algorithms to monitor parameters such as melt pressure and screw speed in real time and achieve closed-loop control. For example, the multi-level SVPWM controller based on FPGA significantly improves the efficiency of the drive power supply, and the thickness deviation can be controlled within ±0.05mm, which is suitable for high-precision scenarios such as optical-grade films.
2. Efficient Heat Dissipation and Energy-Saving Design
New equipment integrates heat dissipation components, such as thermally conductive gels and conduction column structures. Through the internal cold air circulation of the calendering wheels, the cooling time is shortened by 30%, and the energy consumption is reduced by 15%. The Vistar WPJ-660 sheet machine uses super mirror calendering rolls, and the temperature uniformity is improved to ±1℃, which is suitable for high-temperature materials such as PET and PP.
3. Innovation of Environmentally Friendly Materials and Processes
In response to the EU REACH regulations, the industry is accelerating the development of bio-based PE and degradable sheets. For example, biodegradable sheets with a starch content of 80% have been mass-produced, with a degradation rate of over 60%, promoting the green transformation of the packaging industry. The twin-screw direct extrusion technology eliminates the granulation process, reducing production costs by 20%.
Diversified Expansion of Application Areas
Food and Pharmaceutical Packaging: High-transparency PP sheets have passed FDA certification and are used for fresh food preservation and drug protection; the multi-layer co-extrusion technology (such as PE/PP/PET composite) improves the barrier property and extends the shelf life of dairy products.
Construction and Automotive Industry: PC sheets replace glass for energy-efficient lighting roofs, with a temperature resistance range of -100℃ to 135℃; SMC composite materials achieve high-precision molding through the double-roll edge trimming technology and are used for lightweight components such as automotive meter boxes.
New Energy and Electronics: Nano-reinforced sheets are applied to lithium battery separators, and the antistatic performance is improved by 50%; intelligent wearable devices use flexible OLED supporting extruded films, promoting the upgrading of consumer electronics.
Industry Challenges and Countermeasures
4. Environmental Pressure and Material Substitution
Traditional PVC is facing elimination due to the problem of plasticizer migration. Enterprises achieve large-scale production of degradable sheets through the research and development of bio-based polyesters and non-bisphenol A resins. Some domestic equipment already supports the direct extrusion of calcium-plastic sheets with 80% filler.
5. Cost and Supply Chain Fluctuations
The price fluctuations of raw materials such as LLDPE affect profits. The industry reduces the comprehensive cost by 25% through the blending of recycled materials (accounting for 20%-30%), the optimization of laser cutting processes, and modular design.
6. Technical Barriers and Intensified Competition
The high-end market still relies on imported high-temperature-resistant CCK paper and MPE film equipment. Domestic enterprises break through the precision extrusion technology through industry-university-research cooperation, and the localization rate has increased to 40%.
Future Trends and Prospects
7. Deep Integration of Intelligence and Networking
The Internet of Things technology realizes remote monitoring and fault diagnosis. With the support of 5G, the production line efficiency is increased by 30%, and the scrap rate is reduced to below 0.5%.
8. Green Manufacturing and Circular Economy
The proportion of degradable materials is expected to exceed 30% by 2030. Carbon footprint tracking technology is embedded in the production line to promote the industry's carbon neutrality goal.
9. Cross-Border Applications and High-End Penetration
The demand in the aerospace field is growing. Radiation-resistant PC sheets and lightweight SMC components replace metals, and the temperature resistance limit breaks through 150℃.
Conclusion
The extrusion molding technology of sheet machines is reshaping the industrial ecosystem through intelligence, greening, and precision. In the future, with the deepening of new material research and development and cross-border applications, this technology will continuously release innovative momentum in high-end manufacturing, sustainable packaging, and the new energy field, leading the global plastic processing industry to a new stage of high-quality development.
