Complex Tube Die Makes 8 Strands With 5 Layers.

A British maker of specialized coextrusion dies has apparently set a record with a die designed to produce eight strands of tubing, each with five layers. The company, Ridgeway Co-Extrusion Technologies in Wantage, Oxford-shire, has not yet built the die, which is being considered for two barrier applications: one for tubes containing volatile liquids, the other for in-floor heating systems containing water and ethylene glycol. The assembly has a central hub with eight individual crosshead dies arranged around it like spokes on a wheel. Five resins would be piped up the middle, then travel out the spokes to each crosshead die. Ridgeway has built smaller versions with three or five coex dies around a hub.