Trinseo Expert Presents Ways to Tackle Historical Issues of Extrusion Applications

A white paper developed by Netherlands-based Trinseo technical specialist is providing practical data and research information on selecting a pure Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) material that is particularly suitable for extrusion applications.

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins are widely used for applications such as appliances, toys, office equipment, sanitary wares, and more. Extrusion of ABS covers around 13% of the total ABS market in Europe, namely through sheets, edge bands, and profiles. ABS extruded into sheets and formed into final parts, finds its way into furniture, automotive, buses, trucks, recreational and utility vehicles, sanitary applications, advertisement boards, luggage and doors. For optimum product performance and cost efficiency, the ABS resins require specific attributes. These are an excellent lot to lot consistency, a white and thermal stable base color, an adequate UV stability, a low amount of unmelts and a high product purity. Because sheets and edge bands are demanded in a wide range of colors, self-coloring has become a key cost driver through necessities such as color matching, UV absorbers, and optical brighteners. Limited run sizes and regrinding also lead to increased scrap and constant color adjusting. Because the surface quality of thermoformed parts is so critical, presentation of unmelts and high levels of volatile organic compounds in the resins affect aesthetics. This study discusses the attributes of ABS specifically for extrusion and thermoforming, and compares the benefits of MAGNUM™ ABS versus several emulsion ABS. It is intended to provide information to manufacturers of extrusion applications to select the most suitable ABS materials for optimum production performance and cost efficiency