Thermoforming essays

Thermoforming essays Thermoforming is one of many manufacturing processes that converts plastic resin into usable everyday products. Thermoforming is greatly relied on in today's society because of the tremendous need for high volume plastic products. Thermoforming is considered to be one of the most cost-effective processes in plastics manufacturing. Thermoforming is considerably economical because of the low molding costs and fast molding cycles. Speed and cost efficiency are the highlighted qualities that thermoforming offers which lead the way for the process becoming so important in industry today. The basic concept of thermoforming is quite simple. A premanufactored thermoplastic sheet is heated until it becomes soft and pliable. It is then forced against the contours of a mold until it cools to its original state. Once it has cooled it is removed from the mold while still obtaining the shape of the mold. Usually the product is then trimmed to produce the finished product. The operation seems simple and straight foreword but there are many different applications associated with the process. Thermoforming is a broad term; there are many different types of thermoforming processes. These processes all have similar traits but they do differ in certain aspects of the overall process. Trapped Sheet Forming is a specialized type of thermoforming. In trapped sheet forming a hot blow plate is used in both the heating and forming process. A plastic sheet is positioned between the hot blow plate and the female mold cavity. Air forced through the plate and pressure from the female mold combine to thrust the sheet onto the hot plate. The sheet is then heated and forced into the female mold by the use of air pressure. One advantage to trapped sheet forming that is such a simplified process that many products can be produced from this method. Also the process uses contact heating, which is easily used and is not subject t ...