Film and sheet making process

Shahbaz ali
15MME-S1-321
Semester 5th
Department of Metallurgy and Materials engineering
University of the Punjab
 Introduction
Plastic film is a thin continuous polymeric material. Thicker plastic
material is often called a “sheet”. These thin plastic membranes are
used to separate areas or volumes, to hold items.

 Raw material used for film making

•Polyethylene
•Polypropylene
•Nylon

• The most common plastic film is made of one of the

varieties of polyethylene; Low-density
polyethylene, Medium-density polyethylene, High-density
polyethylene, and Linear low-density polyethylene.
 Why we use polymer films?
Depending on raw material some properties of polymer films are listed
below

 Largest volume commodity thermoplastic(LDPE)

 PE film is soft, very flexible, clear and glossy and has good tear resistance

 LLDPE is selected for its higher tensile and impact

strength and better heat seal ability

 ULDPE is a soft and very flexible thermoplastic and is

ideal for applications where excellent optics, and high
tear resistance is required

 HDPE is more rigid and stronger than LDPE and has

good impact strength
 Method to produce polymer film
 Blown Film Process
The process involves extrusion of a plastic through a circular die, followed by
"bubble-like" expansion.
 At the film manufacturing plant,
the polyethylene resin is loaded into hoppers, and
heated to approximately 400 degrees, melting the
resin.
 The melted polyethylene is passed through a
horizontal extrusion ring.
 Air is blown upward through the center of the ring,
and a bubble of molten polyethylene begins to rise,
like a large soap bubble.
 The bubble is pulled upward by machinery, more
air is constantly pumped in from below, and the
polyethylene bubble forms a tall vertical tube as it
continues to rise.
 Air is blown against the outside of the tube, to cool
the polyethylene to its solid state.
 Recent researches
 various strategies have been recently proposed in
developing (bio)fouling resistant thin film
composite membranes, particularly through
surface coating.

 Polymer films now play an essential and growing role in Author: N. Misdan a,b, ⁎, A.F. Ismail b, ⁎, N. Hilal c,d
Journal: Recent advances in the development of (bio)fouling
sensors. Recent advances in polymer science and film resistant thin film composite membranes for desalination
preparation have made polymer films useful, practical Year: 16 June 2015

and economical in a wide range of sensor designs and

applications.
 Thin polymer films are widely used in normal day life applications ranging
from plastic bags to thin polymer sensors.
 Also polymer film making industry is growing rapidly world wide to meet the
rapid consumption of polymer films.