Ensure Quality Of Plastic With Melt Flow Index Tester

Polyolefin and polyethylene are plastic forms that are widely used to convert them into various shapes for packaging crates, boxes, food wrapping, beverage containers etc. These polymers are molded and can be transformed into a new shape every time according to the molds. Manufacturers need to test melt flow of these plastic before giving them any specific shape and producing these uniformly in bulk.

 

Melt flow index is a property evaluation a resin, plastic or any polymer about its flow rate at ambient temperature in a specific time period. The same factor is used when the molten plastic is allowed to flow in the molds. MFI is defined as the rate of flow of material (in grams per ten minutes) through a nozzle underweight pressure and high temperature, of specific diameter and length.

 

Presto Melt Flow Index tester is an apt device to assess the melt flow index with samples of resins and plastics. The apparatus is heated to a specific temperature. A small amount of polymer sample (majorly in size of granules) is fed to the apparatus. A die is used to apply enough pressure to avoid air cavities then a standard weight (for e.g., 2.16 kg) attached to a piston which assures easy flow of molten sample. The molten sample gets cut off automatically according to the preset time. Then, it can be weighed and flow index can be calculated.

 

Some specifications of the device give its accuracy where the ambient temperature can be set to 400° C. It is equipped with a PID temperature controller and diameter of die is 2.095 mm ± 0.005 mm. The sample cutter is all automatic motorized. It works according to the preset time which is fed to digital timer in which time can be set in hrs:min:sec format. The weights that are used with the piston for flow of sample can be different as 1.2 kg, 2.16 kg or 5 kg. The heat cylinders are of steel for consistent heating for best test results.