Guill Tool Adds In-House Rheology Lab

Extrusion equipment supplier Guill Tool reports that it has opened a rheology laboratory at its facility in West Warwick, RI. The in-house lab will ensure more reliable results, especially when testing new extrusion compounds, and less downtime between testing and production. Guill claims to be the only extrusion tooling manufacturer with this capability.

Third-party testing facilities typically are not experienced in extrusion processes, said Guill in the announcement. Bringing that process in house will allow Guill not only to gather data in the same manner as third-party testers but also to interpret the data as it applies to extrusion. Guill is now equipped to test its customers’ materials and work with them to create extrusion tooling that will give them a competitive edge, the company said.

Accurate simulation and interpretation by extrusion experts greatly reduces the number of physical reworks needed, as the tooling has a greater chance of producing a good product at the outset, said Guill. In-house testing also speeds up the turnaround on test results, reducing delays during the tool design process and offering better control over the processes and test parameters.

The new rheology lab processes standard materials and custom formulas — including plastics, thermoplastic elastomers, and all types of rubber and silicone — and it is equipped to mix materials. The testing equipment includes a hybrid rotational rheometer, differential scanning calorimeter, and thermal conductivity meter.

Information from the lab is transmitted directly to the Guill engineering department via computer for review by the design team.

The lab is available for use by extruders and chemical formulators, among others in the industry.