A variety of plastic materials can be used in thermoforming, including foams such as those made from polystyrene, polyethylene and polyurethane. In fact, since it’s durable, absorbs sound and impact well, and is relatively inexpensive, foam is a popular material choice. Thermoformers can form both open and closed cell foam: Open Cell:...
For OEMs looking for solutions to their part needs, thermoforming offers a number of benefits over other processes. With the right thermoforming partner, you’ll realize: Design Flexibility: A wide variety of materials, available in a range of colors and textures, allows you to obtain the look you want...
With thermoforming, a plastic sheet is heated to its forming temperature, then shaped by a mold, but just what is “forming temperature?” Most materials have a range of forming temperatures. For example, polystyrene has a lower forming temperature—the temperature at which it can be bent from...
With thermoforming, a plastic sheet is heated until it’s pliable, then stretched into or onto a mold to form a part. But the sheet gets thinner as it stretches deeper onto the mold, which is why prestretching of the hot plastic is sometimes useful. Prestretching is the process of...
The thermoforming process involves heating a plastic sheet until it’s pliable, then placing it into or onto a mold to be formed with vacuum or pressure. But within this general description of the process, there is one key issue that can impact your part production:...
One often overlooked but critical step in the production of a successful part is the initial information exchange between thermoformer and customer. During this fact-finding phase, several important aspects of the job should be addressed, including: The expected volumeAny stressful environments like chemicals, impact and temperatureA...
A lot of time goes into designing your component part and selecting just the right plastic material. But there’s one often-overlooked manufacturing step that’s critical to part perfection: trimming. This crucial process removes all excess plastic after a part is produced, delivering a number of benefits, including: Part...
The right tool is crucial to optimal part production, but sometimes it’s wise to consider a temporary tool instead of going directly to production tooling, especially in situations like early market evaluations. Temporary tools for prototyping offer a number of benefits: They’re made from low-cost materials like wood or...
When your plastic parts have to be joined, ultrasonic welding is an effective choice to create a secure bond. Ultrasonic welding utilizes the power of high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibration to create enough pressure between two pieces to weld them together. With ultrasonic welding, you can achieve the plastic piece...
All great products start with an idea. But not every idea becomes a great product. So, what’s the key to turning a concept into reality? Implementation. Successful inventions require that a product can be made. But the good news is that you don’t actually have to build your product....