(Guill Tool: West Warwick, RI) -- Guill Tool, a global leader in extrusion tooling, has expanded its lab capabilities to better serve the global extrusion market with the creation of Guill Labs. The labs include the company’s state-of-the-art rheology lab and a facility focused entirely on the extrusion process. 

Guill’s existing rheology lab measures the flow characteristics of plastics and rubber to predict how a customer’s material will flow through the company’s extrusion dies before production. Tooling geometry is virtually optimized, and the project can be viewed in 3D CAD.  Machines used include a rotational rheometer, scanning calorimeter, thermal conductivity meter, and a new CT scanner.  

The rotational rheometer quickly generates visco-elastic data for polymer melts, precisely capturing polymer melt properties. Test temperature ranges between ambient and 300°C.  The lab’s scanning calorimeter characterizes the thermal properties of a polymer sample, such as crystallization temperature, glass transition temperature, and head capacity of the sample. Knowing these thermal properties permits the simulation of shear heating and hot and cold spots in the flow area. The thermal conductivity meter is used to determine the thermal conductivity of the polymer sample across a range of temperatures.  

This in-house lab provides faster turnaround on test results, reducing delays during the design process and offering better control over the testing parameters. The result is a high-quality part delivered on time.  

The new test extrusion facility features two Killion 1.25-in. extruders, an RDN 2.0 PVS vacuum tank, one Keyence LS9000 dual axis laser gauge, two Dri Air ARID-X 10 30lb capacity driers, a custom-built tubing puller, and an Accurate Thermal Systems FTBLL47 fluidized bath. In addition, the test lab permits single and co-extrusion capabilities with its tried-and-true die designs.  Access to exotic extrusion processes such as rotary die extrusion of filament and tubular end-products are also available. 

Supporting extrusion trials, the test lab also offers extrusion training, die cleaning services, sample inspection, and end-product testing. Guill’s fluidized bath has a 50°C–605°C temperature range and a working volume of 15.7 in. x 47 in.  

Customers can test materials, dies, and actual extrusion run time, all on Guill premises. 

Design engineer Jacob Marcure working in the rheology lab