Teknor Apex has added an Arvitec co-extrusion line to its application development lab in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. Completely commissioned and trialed, the extrusion line expands capabilities to support customer as well as internal development projects at the company’s European Center of Excellence for plastics research and development.

By offering lab-scale testing for co-extruded applications, Teknor Apex enables customers to optimize quality control and manufacturing operations before a full-scale production roll out, said the company. Arvitec equipment is popular among its customers in Europe, added the custom compounder, so making it available for trial runs and prototyping will be helpful in problem solving when they begin production runs on Arvitec systems.

The custom line installed at the Teknor Apex lab includes dual Genesis extruders, a calibration table, haul-off system, and a rotary burr-free cutting blade. Advanced, intuitive controls enable complete automated performance and recording of setups for ease of repeatability. Arvitec provides remote support in real time via the internet from its home base in Spain.

“We have partnered with Arvitec for decades and look forward to continuing to work with them to increase our lab capabilities in the future,” said Thomas Aschenbrenner, Application Development Laboratory Manager at Teknor Apex. 

Multiple TPE/TPV/PP material combinations have been successfully extruded in different profile geometries, said Teknor Apex in the news release. These include two-layer tubes for cooling fluid systems of battery-operated electric vehicles, two-component strips consisting of low-friction Sarlink slip-coat materials on top of a soft TPE/TPV for automotive sealing systems, and various other automotive profiles.

Customers looking to meet sustainability goals can trial replacing extruded EPDM (thermoset rubber) profiles with a recyclable alternative like TPV. Along with the ability to be recycled, TPVs offer greater design flexibility and lower fabrication costs for hard-to-achieve shapes than EPDM, according to Teknor Apex.