THERMOFORMABILITY OF THERMOPLASTIC SHEETS - IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROPOSED STANDARDIZABLE METHOD.

The plastics industry sees the continuing growth of computer-aided engineering (CAE) techniques which gradually incorporate the mathematical modeling of the process. Such techniques are intended to assist in tool design, operating parameters selection and control and, to some extent, in resin selection. A comprehensive method which is thought to contain standardizable elements was described at ANTEC 85. A central feature of the method was the use of molds with simple but variable geometries referred to, in general, as VARIMOLDS. The present paper describes the design and operation of a prototype axisymmetric circular VARIMOLD referred to simply as the VARIMOLD in this paper, as well as, exploratory experiments conducted on sheets of high impact polystyrene (HIPS) along with their analysis in terms of material displacement and deformation.