Everybody wants to turn daily business operations in polymer engineering more effective and efficient! Using mobile apps instead of old design guides and large excel calculation tables to quickly calculate daily needed engineering parameters such as clamping force or residence time may be a way to follow. Another way is to use free online sources. These eliminate the need of having several apps on your mobile phone.

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2. Introduction
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Everybody wants to turn daily business operations in polymer
engineering more effective and efficient! Using mobile apps instead
of old design guides and large excel calculation tables to quickly
calculate daily needed engineering parameters such as clamping force
or residence time may be a way to follow. Another way is to use free
online sources. These eliminate the need of having several apps on
your mobile phone. I selected 15 tools which have proven to be
powerful when it comes to quickly estimate engineering data for an
existing or new application idea.
Since we have our phone always with us and are connected to the
worldwide web it is easy to get hands on with online running pages.
I wish you fun with this compiling list of polymer engineering web-based
programs!
Herwig Juster
Educational Blogger in Plastics Industry
Find Out About Plastics

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1. Polymer Properties Database
2. PRO-plast® Trade Name Finder
3. Dr. Boy® - Processing Data
4. Prospector® Materials & Ingredients Search Engine
5. Kunststoffe international.com - Glossary of Plastics Terminology
6. Dr. Boy® - Clamping Force Calculator
7. Dr. Boy® - Cooling Time Calculator
8. Dr. Boy® - Energy Calculator
9. Nordson – Injection Process Optimization ROI
10.Custompart.net – Standard Injection Moulding Cost Estimator
11.Custompart.net – Tooling Cost Estimator
12.Injection Moulding Residence Time Estimator
13.Nordson – Gear Pump Payback Analysis
14.Plastic Extruder Output
15.Plastics News Europe (PNE) – Polymer Prices

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1. Polymer Properties Database
>> direct to Polymer Properties Database <<
This new web-based library gives a brief overview of
the most common resins, plastics and elastomers,
their properties, uses, and manufacture. It also
provides information about products made of
plastics such as fibers, fabrics, films, seals as well
as products formulated on the basis of resins such
as adhesives, sealants, and coatings.
All articles are full text and presented online in
HTML with many cross-references and links to other
websites that provide additional information.

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2. PRO-plast® Trade Name Finder
>> direct to PRO-plast® Trade Name Finder <<
Often plastic manufacturers sell their plastics under
a trade name which sometimes can confuse and/or
makes it difficult to uncover which polymer is
behind. Therefore, PRO-plast® set up a database
which lets you immediately identify the material
class.

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3. Dr. Boy® - Processing Data
>> direct to Dr. Boy – Processing Data <<
The Dr. Boy Processing Data web-based app
provides information about pre-drying and
processing conditions of plastic materials and helps
to decide on the selection of future plastics.

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4. Prospector® Materials & Ingredients Search Engine
>> direct to Prospector® Materials & Ingredients Search Engine <<
Prospector® is a polymer and ingredients search
engine covering different industries. It offers
accurate and reliable technical information for
thousands of products. Furthermore, it has the
ability to connect with suppliers from around the
world and helps product developers, designers and
engineers to find materials faster.

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5. Kunststoffe international.com - Glossary of Plastics Terminology
>> direct to Kunststoffe international.com Glossary of Plastics Terminology <<
Every time you come across a term which you are
not familiar with, Kunststoffe international Glossary
of Plastics Terminology can help you. It covers most
fields of the plastics value chain: from plastics
manufacturing to processing and machinery.

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6. Dr. Boy® - Clamping Force Calculator
>> direct to Dr. Boy® - Clamping Force Calculator <<
Dr. Boy® Clamping Force Calculator can help you
selecting the right injection moulding machine in
terms of sufficient clamping force as well as
checking the clamping force needed for your new
product on your existing injection moulding
machine. It has four input parameters, i.e., projected
surface of moulded part, wall thickness, longest
floating line and flowability of plastic.

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7. Dr. Boy® - Cooling Time Calculator
>> direct to Dr. Boy® - Cooling Time Calculator <<
In injection moulidng, cooling time has a major
impact on the overall cycle time and, thus, on the
productivity of your manufacturing operations. A first
estimation of the cooling time can be done by using
Dr. Boy® Cooling Time Calculator.

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8. Dr. Boy® - Energy Calculator
>> direct to Dr. Boy® - Energy Calculator <<
Dr. Boy® can help you estimating the power and
specific energy requirements of your plastics
injection moulding operations. This can be
especially advantageous when, for example,
conformal heating and cooling are necessary. Dr.
Boy ® will help you to optimize the energy
consumption of your operations.
Remark: a selection of Dr. Boy® machinery needs
to be done.

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9. Nordson – Injection Process Optimization ROI
>> direct to Nordson – Injection Process Optimization ROI <<
Saving costs in your injection moulding operations
can be done by using another screw type. Nordson
Injection Process Optimization ROI helps you to
calculate the saving when changing the screw.
Furthermore, it helps you to better understand the
usage of your current screw.
Remark: Each calculation requires data input. Thus,
remember that the accuracy of the results depends
on the accuracy of the data you enter.

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10. Custompart.net – Standard Injection Moulding Cost Estimator
>> direct to Custompart.net – Standard Injection Moulding Cost Estimator <<
Custompart.net is a powerful calculation tool which
covers the standard injection moulding process and
additional steps like secondary operations and
packaging. It does not require any part geometry.
Once all calculations are done you can
automatically compile the obtained data into a
report.

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11. Custompart.net – Tooling Cost Estimator
>> direct to Custompart.net – Tooling Cost Estimator <<
The Custompart.net – Tooling Cost Estimator gives
you a budget for your new tooling project. On the
basis of part geometry and mould requirements
such as the number of cavities, a suitable mould
base is selected using standard mould dimensions.
The required mould machining is estimated for the
selected SPI mould class and rapid tooling methods
may be chosen for a Class 104 mould.

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12. Injection Moulding Residence Time Estimator
>> direct to Injection Moulding Residence Time Estimator <<
This is my own creation which helps you to estimate
the residence time of your injection moulding
operation. It is especially interesting for residence
time sensitive plastics. With this online tool a quick
estimation can be done.

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13. Nordson – Gear Pump Payback Analysis
>> direct to Gear Oump Payback Analysis <<
This web based tool allows you to calculate your
payback period when using a gear pump in your
operations.

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14. Plastic Extruder Output
>> direct to Plastic Extruder Output <<
The Plastic Extruder Output tool allows you to
estimate the typical output for plastic screw
extrusion processes. The calculation is based on
standard extruder screw geometry and typical
output rates.

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15. Plastics News Europe (PNE) – Polymer Prices
>> direct to PNE – Polymer Prices <<
Market and price intelligence are useful in decision
making on material stock ups and forecasting
certain behavior of your suppliers (for example
material price increase).
The Plastics Europe News homepage offers
information on feedstock prices such as ethylene,
propylene, styrene, benzene and paraxylene on a
quarterly basis. Furthermore, it gives information on
L/LDPE, HDPE, PP, PVC, PS and PET.

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Contacts
>> direct to Find Out About Plastics (FOAP) <<
Do you have a question about my posts, or other
topics around polymer engineering and leadership?
Do you have any special topic you would like me to
post about?
Feel free to get in touch via the contact form on my
blog by clicking in the link below.
Greetings
Herwig Juster

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