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Plastic extrusion in an industrial process: how does it work?

Published the 02.10.2025

Plastic items are generally manufactured using various industrial systems and processes, one of the most commonly used being EXTRUSION. Tocarry out extruding, a machine called an EXTRUDER is required, which causes the plastic injected into it in the form of molten polymer to exit by means of mechanical force, passing through a die that gives the desired shape to the final product .

  • But how does an ‘extruder’ work?

An industrial extruder for plastics is essentially composed of 5 main parts:

- gear motor

- hopper

- heated cylinder

- screw conveyor

- die

The plastic polymer to be injected is placed in the hopper and then directly into the screw conveyor, which is driven by a motor. The screw conveyor is inserted into a heated cylinder, which uses heat to melt the polymer injected through the hopper and, through the internal movement of the ‘worm screw’, carries the molten material inside it towards the injected through the hopper and, by means of the movement inside the ‘worm screw’, carries the molten material inside it towards the die located at the end of the screw's outlet. In this way, the molten plastic material is pushed towards this die, which, upon exiting it, will give the final product the desired shape.

It is then cooled using liquid (water) or air by means of forced ventilation.

It should be added that there are also other components on an extruder that are of primary importance; among these, the following stand out in particular: BAND HEATERS , which can be of various diameters depending on the cylinders on which they are installed and made of different materials (steel-brass-mica), depending on the type of processing that needs to be carried out, for which the temperature to be reached and the pre-set times for heating the cylinder in which the plastic substance flows come into play. They are managed by THERMOREGULATORS which are in turn controlled by a temperature detection system using special PROBES integrated into the cylinder.

It should be noted that an efficient temperature control system, composed of high-quality components, has a significant impact on the final processing result. For this reason, it is advisable to choose high-quality items supplied by companies with expertise in this field.

EXTRUSION or MOULDING ?

The term ‘moulding’ of plastic materials is often confused with the term ‘extrusion’ of plastic materials ; the difference is significant. While the former terminology refers to a moulding process involving ‘pressing’ between moulds, the latter refers, as we have seen, to a process of "forced forced" on a die.  The latter system, unlike ‘moulding’, is suitable for producing straight and continuous products, such as profiles, pipes and films, while ‘moulding’ is used to produce individual items that may be more complex and rich in details.

It is not uncommon to find processes that combine the two systems, EXTRUSION+STAMPING, for example when producing a linear angle profile, on which artistic motifs will subsequently be stamped .

 

ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES of the EXTRUSION process:

Like all industrial processes, EXTRUSION also has advantages and disadvantages.

ADVANTAGES:

  • precision in processing
  • ease of execution
  • multiple applications of extruded plastic products such as profiles, tubes and sheets

DISADVANTAGES:

  • high production costs due to machinery that can require a lot of electricity and long set-up times
  • requires careful precision control of the polymer processing temperature
  • slow production times
  • Possibility of raw material waste due to extruder calibration, which can cause damage to the finished product and waste of the same

 

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