Co-extrusion

Co-extrusion is defined as the process in which two

or more plastic materials are extruded through a
single die. In this process, two or more orifices are
arranged in such a manner that the conjoint merging
and welding of the extrudates takes place and before
chilling, a laminar structure forms. In co-extrusion, a
separate extruder is used to fed every material to
the die but the orifices can be arranged in such a
manner that each extruder provides two or more
plies of the same material.

Co-extrusion may be employed in the processes of

Film Blowing, Extrusion Coating, and Free Film
Extrusion. The general benefit of the co-extrusion
process is that every laminate ply imparts a required
characteristic property like heat-sealability, stiffness,
& impermeability, all of which are impossible to
attain by using any single material.

It is evident that co-extrusion is a better process than a single layer extrusion. For instance, in the
vinyl fencing industry, co-extrusion process is used for tailoring the layers on the basis of whether
these are exposed to weather or not. Generally, compound's thin layer is extruded that contains
high-priced weather resistant additives. This extrusion is done on the outside, whereas inside there
is an additive package which is more suitable for the structural performance and impact
resistance.

Advantages Of Co-extrusion
According to various internationally established and popular companies that are using the co-
extrusion process continuously in their production procedures, there are a number of advantages
of this process. Some of these advantages are listed below:

High quality mono-layer extrusion coatings in larger varieties of line speeds and widths
Use of lower cost materials for filling purpose, assists in saving on the amount of
qualitative resins
Capability of making multi-layer as well as multi-functional structures that too in a single
pass
Reduction in the number of steps required in general extrusion process
Provides targeted performance with the use of definite polymers in particular layers
Reduction in setup and trim scrap
Potential for use of a recycle layer

Disadvantages Of Co-extrusion
As per a number of globally reckoned companies, there are some disadvantages related with the
process of co-extrusion. Some of these disadvantages are as follows:

Minor differences in physical properties are responsible for making a combination

desirable, but these differences are also responsible for making the combination
incompatible
For this process, polymers must have similar melt viscosities to sustain a laminar flow. All
the viscosity differences may be more or less tolerable, according to the material location
inside the composite structure along with the layer's thinness
Requires more sophisticated extruder and its operator. This implies extra maintenance cost
of the equipment.
 Demands considerable planning as well as forethought in the system design