The Compounding & Mixing Workshop
Twin-screw compounding from first principles — dispersive vs. distributive mixing, specific mechanical energy, screw-element selection — so you can troubleshoot any line.
Get notified when this course is scheduled
One email when dates are set. Or skip the wait: run it as a private cohort, on-site at your plant.
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Faculty
Faculty details for this seminar will be announced with the full schedule.
Fees
Early: $1,895 (payment 4+ weeks ahead)
Standard: $2,095 (check/ACH) · $2,165 (card)
Group discount: $200 off per attendee for 3+ from the same organization.
Also Available
- Corporate on-site delivery at your facility
- Private cohort sessions
- Digital curriculum licensing
Seminar Overview
A compound is only as good as the mixer that made it — and most 'material' problems turn out to be dispersion, distribution, and shear-history problems. Taught by a scientist who has compounded commercially and taught mixing at the university level, this workshop covers twin-screw and continuous mixing from first principles: screw-element selection, specific mechanical energy, distributive vs. dispersive mixing, and how shear history changes final properties. The differentiator: pattern is taught from structure–property–processing physics, so attendees can troubleshoot any line, not just parrot a vendor recipe.
Ideal Learner
- Compounding and masterbatch technologists
- Materials engineers at resin suppliers and compounders
- Process engineers running twin-screw extrusion
- R&D scientists optimizing additive packages and filler dispersion
- Quality engineers investigating material-property variability
Learning Objectives
- Select screw elements and configure a mixing section for a given dispersion objective
- Control specific mechanical energy and shear history to hit target properties
- Diagnose poor dispersion vs. poor distribution from microstructure evidence
- Optimize additive, filler, and reinforcement loading for uniform properties
- Troubleshoot black specks, gels, fisheyes, and property drift at the source
Consulting Sessions
Seminar attendees can sign up for individual consulting sessions with the instructor. Sessions are free for registered attendees, first-come first-served — sign up when registering by calling 248-539-0473 or during the seminar.
Seminar Outline
- What mixing must achieve: distributive and dispersive mixing defined
- The polymer melt as a viscoelastic medium: why shear and temperature couple
- How morphology (domain size, orientation) sets final performance
- Co-rotating intermeshing geometry and why it dominates compounding
- Conveying, kneading, and mixing elements: function and limits
- Forward vs. reverse elements, and specific-energy control
- The physics of breaking agglomerates vs. spreading a uniform field
- Kneading block selection for dispersion-critical compounds
- Distributive designs (gear, blisters, pin mixers) for low-shear uniformity
- Talc, calcium carbonate, glass, carbon-fiber dispersion case studies
- Additive dosing, downstream feeding, and liquid injection
- Moisture, volatiles, and their effect on dispersion quality
- Reading morphology in the microscope: dispersion ratings
- Property tests that reveal mixing quality
- Statistical consistency and lot-to-lot control
- Black specks, gels, fisheyes, streaks, and property drift: root causes
- Relating defects to screw, speed, temperature, and feed decisions
- Attendee compound recipes reviewed in workshop format
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