Polymer Industries utilizes a single screw continuous sheet extrusion process in which plastic pellets are fed into the barrel of the extruder and conveyed by the screw that is inside of this barrel out of the other end of an extruder. The heaters which are outside of the barrel of the extruder as well as the friction from the rotation of the screw melt the plastic pellets into a sheet form and the plastic is then placed on a 3 roll stack. The plastic goes through the bottom and middle roll, wraps around back of the middle roll and then back around the top roll as shown. These rolls are water cooled and help to take the heat out of the plastic. After the plastic comes off the top roll, it travels down the conveyor to the end of the sheetline where a saw cuts the sheet to width as well as to length. As the plastic travels the length of the conveyor, numerous operations help to stress relieve the sheet as well as put the desired surface finish on the sheet surface.

Polymer Industries also utilizes a co-extrusion process in which two extruders feed the die to form a continuous sheet. The main extruder feeds the middle "B" layer of the sheet while the co-extruder feeds the outside "A" layers. This process is used where either different colors or different formulations of materials are required on the skin surface versus the middle of the sheet. This process is used to manufacture our Densetec® Sign Board, Densetec® TredSafe, and Densetec® Utility Board Materials.

Numerous colors are extruded by Polymer Industries. Each product has its own set of standard colors which can be found on the product page. Polymer Industries also can run custom colors upon request although there are requirements for minimum pounds per color per thickness.

Thicknesses Extruded :1/32" thru 1-1/2"

Widths Extruded: Up to 144". Standard widths are 48", 54", and 60".

Lengths Extruded: Up to 480" if desired. Standard lengths are 96" and 120". Also available in coils, if needed, for hundreds of feet in length.

Sheet Extrusion Capacity:

Alabama:
Nine extrusion lines that can produce sheets up to 12' wide and 40' long or longer if in coils.
India:
One extrusion line that can produce sheets 1.6m wide and up to 30m long.