Extrusion barrel
alignment constitutes
a very important aspect of an efficiently managed plastic extrusion
process. In the case of any misalignment, there will be excessive
screw wear and barrel wear. In some cases if the misalignment is
severe, the screw will fall off prematurely due to the fatigue caused
by the cyclic bending of the screw as it is subjected to rotation in
the barrel. As far as all manufacturing parts are concerned, properly
aligned equipment can easily save a lot of time and money. An
investment in a good laser barrel alignment
will help in a multitude of ways including lowering of replacement
part costs, decreasing downtime, less wear and tear on critical
components as well as reduction in power consumption.
One
of the most common uses of laser alignment is extrusion
barrel alignment
as a result of the small tolerances that exist between a screw and
extruder barrel. Proper alignment barrel relative to the output shaft
of the gearbox is known to dramatically increase the life as well as
the output of an extrusion line during its life cycle. Proper
alignment largely depends on the length and breadth of the extrusion
screw. Laser barrel alignment is one of the most important techniques to ensure prevention of improper
alignment and it must be performed every time the crew is removed or
even when the gearbox is separated from the extruder. Lasers are in
fact one of the fastest and accurate ways to perform the procedure
and there are some devices that are capable of measuring less than
.001” deviation.
