Plastic expertise for demanding fluid applications

Fluid applications often impose demanding requirements on materials and components. Aggressive media, high temperatures and pressures, as well as specific requirements such as hygiene standards in the food industry or biocompatibility in medical and pharmaceutical applications, require precisely adapted material and system solutions. Bürkert has therefore built up more than 40 years of internal expertise in the development and manufacturing of plastic components and recently consolidated these capabilities in a new plastics technology competence center at the Criesbach campus.

Context of the collaboration
The competence center brings together cross-functional teams from materials laboratories, development, tool design, toolmaking, technical centers, plastics manufacturing, and quality assurance. The objective is to provide end-to-end support across the entire plastics value chain, enabling application-specific solutions tailored to industry requirements. By integrating development and production processes, development cycles can be shortened, time-to-market accelerated, and support provided for complex international approval procedures.

Technical solution and processes
The foundation is a broad material portfolio including more than 90 standard materials suitable for most applications. For demanding use cases, customized materials can be developed in close cooperation with customers. After material selection, qualification takes place in the laboratory, evaluating both material properties and the performance of individual components or complete systems.

Component development then focuses on enabling plastics-optimized series production. Depending on customer requirements, prototypes are created using additive manufacturing, vacuum casting, or injection molding with cost-efficient prototype tools and original materials. Functional testing and installation space validation support the design process.

Simulations accompany development phases, including analyses of mechanical properties, media flow behavior within the finished system, plastic melt flow during manufacturing, and deformation characteristics after production. Tool design and manufacturing are also performed in-house, alongside technical testing facilities and injection molding capabilities for transparent parts, mechanically demanding components, and microstructures within macro-scale parts.

Implementation and added value
Providing the entire value chain from a single source enables shorter communication paths and facilitates iterative optimization during development. The integrated approach also reduces reliance on external supply chains, improving planning reliability.

Customers benefit from combined fluidics expertise, encompassing both deep knowledge of material chemistry and familiarity with industry-specific process requirements.

Applications and use cases
The plastic solutions are used in applications such as hygienically cleanable valves for food and pharmaceutical industries, water treatment systems for dental equipment, food-compliant labeling using industrial inkjet systems, and pressure-resistant components for hot water and steam applications. Additionally, custom color options allow alignment with customer corporate identity requirements.

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