Life in Polymers with Westlake Plastics

On the second episode of Life in Polymers, we discuss the launch of Aerolite Carbon, a collaboration between Westlake Plastics and Environmental Composites. Carbon fiber technology has been out for years and has led to improved performance. However, there are challenges with carbon fiber. “It’s costly, and it requires new equipment,” said Jason Ross, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Westlake Plastics, on an episode of Life in Polymers. He and Westlake Plastics colleague Paul Hanson welcomed the Technical Director of Environmental Composites, Jim Gleason, to join them with Marketscale host Tyler Kern to talk about Aerolite Carbon. Aerolite Carbon gives a bump in performance over an unfilled material,” Ross said. “It is processable on current equipment that exists in the industry today.” Gleason said that he is not only an engineer working with these materials, but also a consumer of them. “There are a lot of applications where I want a better-performing product with things that I use,” he said. “There are some examples of carbon fiber composites out there that are just not a realistic price point.” He said that Aerolite Carbon is something that he could actually use. Not only does Aerolite Carbon come at a better price point and offer better performance, but it also offers cosmetic and design capabilities that have previously been limitations in the composite industry. The opportunities for producers and for consumers can be found in markets one might not consider off the top of their head. One example of the immediate opportunities that Aerolite Carbon offers is in the music industry. “Music equipment like guitar cases is put in the back of vans or airplanes – they are beat up like you wouldn’t believe,” Hanson said. “A lot of people want the performance of a $1,000 material, but they can barely afford the $100 material.” In the automotive industry, Hanson noted that people are paying a high amount of money to have carbon fiber under the hood, but, now, people can have similar material at a much lower price.

On the first episode of Life in Polymers, we're breaking down the basics of machining plastics, and specifically the differences between extrusion and compression molding. Both are ways that plastics are machined, but it’s a different approach. To provide insight, we’re joined by Jody Walker, Western Region Business Development Manager, and Paul Hanson, Eastern Region Business Development Manager of Westlake Plastics. Professionals in the industry know: there are many challenges with machining plastics, most of which is felt by machinists that work primarily on metals. Not only is education on machining plastics sparse, but the techniques don't translate. “Machinists have spent most of their time on training on metal work. Metal work doesn’t translate to plastics. They are different materials," Hanson said. However, the industry has seen a strong trend in replacing metal with plastic. It’s lighter weight, more cost effective, and for some industries, it's even "stronger." “In industries where corrosion is an issue like the food processing industry, plastic actually works much better, as it can deal with water and other chemicals better than metal," Walker said. This trend means there is demand for machined plastics. Extruding acetal plastic parts has been the traditional way to create them, but it isn’t always effective. “When a sheet of plastic is extruded, there are internal stresses. When a strip is cut from the extruded sheet, the part will curl. That’s a real problem for fabricators. Much of the time when these parts are installed, they won’t lay flat and can fail inspection," Hanson said. Hanson and Walker argue that compression molding is an alternative that more machinists need to consider. Though the process used to have barriers of high pricing, compression molding has become an accessible option for manufacturing plastic parts. Not only that, on average, the process is more reliable than extrusion. There is much less stress, and cuts lay straight when made. Listen to the podcast to learn more about Westlake's own compression molded plastic, Pomalux, which Hanson and Walker say delivers a unique and superior product to machine.