Intricacies of Keeping Your Extrusion Barrel Aligned Always

Extrusion barrel alignment is one of the most important requirements in any extrusion process. You can actually save a lot of money and time if laser barrel alignment is resorted at necessary place. When you make this investment, you actually lower future replacement costs and reduce down-time besides the wear and tear on the critical components. You also reduce power consumption.

There is a small tolerance between the screw and extruder barrel. This tolerance must not be allowed to increase. This check is carried out by extrusion barrel alignment. The proper alignment of the barrel with respect to the output shaft of the gearbox is essential to increase the life and the output of extrusion line over its life cycle. The importance of proper alignment increases as the extrusion screw becomes larger and longer. Therefore, if there is a misalignment of only 0.060”on a 4” 24:1 screw the force of more than 9000 lbs will be required to bend the screw so that it can conform to the misaligned barrel.

There are cases when a misalignment has led to the fracture or premature failure of the screw. Besides, when the tolerance between the barrel and the screw is compromised, the extruder output is also reduced. This reduces line efficiency and may hurt profits. Laser barrel alignment prevents improper alignment. This should be carried out each time the screw is removed and whenever the gearbox is decoupled from the extruder. The alignment procedure can detect deviations that are only one thousandths of an inch. The procedure takes 8-10 hours or even less and the cost is well worth the price that you may have to pay otherwise.

Extrusion Barrel Alignment & Laser Barrel Alignment

Extrusion barrel alignment is very important when it comes to saving money on needless replacement costs. It is quite easy to justify the costly investment in laser barrel alignment equipment while counting the money being spent by you for wear and tear on essential components. It causes the cost of important parts that require replacement and the down-time that invariably arises during this replacement. It also brings reduction in power consumption when the extrusion barrel gets misaligned.

Relative to the output shaft of the gearbox, the proper extrusion barrel alignment helps the extrusion line last for long. This is caused by the small endurance between the screw and the extruder barrel. It is for this reason; the more large size an extrusion screw has, the more is the importance of proper alignment. Laser barrel alignment, in this regard, significantly prevents misalignment. This operation needs to be implemented when the gearbox gets decoupled from the extruder or the screw is taken away. The most accurate and the fastest method of laser carry out the alignment process within a deviation of not more than 0.001”.

On an average, it takes about 10 hrs for the laser alignment of an extrusion line. However, the time and cost invested on this operation is lesser than the cost paid by you in case the line gets misaligned. Precision Parts Inc or PPI has made a niche in this regard and is well-known for its services like barrel alignment in addition to roller, coupling and pulley alignment. The laser alignment, at PPI, is performed on the CNC and traditional machining centers. The collimated laser system also helps set up the alignment of the tool holders and chucks at the initial stage.