One of the most difficult features in thermoforming is the three sided sharp corner in a female mold.
Vacuum forming plastic thickness.
The stretching of a flat sheet of plastic material into a larger shape results in a larger surface area and a corresponding reduction in the sheet s original thickness.
This vacuum forming material selection guide is part of our free help with vacuum forming it lists most common vacuum forming materials their basic properties in standard grade some advice on costs typical uses for formings made from each material type.
Thermoforming vacuum forming and pressure forming are considered thermoforming processes.
Each plastic material has a variety of different properties and they form at different temperatures.
This is accomplished by putting a piece of plastic into some type of clamping mechanism heating the sheet up to a forming temperature.
Description of vacuum forming simply stated vacuum forming is the process of taking a flat sheet of plastic and changing it into a contoured shape.
The acrylic petg and polycarbonate sheets are normally clear can be special ordered in colors however the polycarbonate may have to be heat dried prior to the vacuum forming temperature phase depending on thickness.
The thinning down of the sheet s original thickness is not necessarily uniform.
So if 15 mil material is required for a specific project or application the fill thickness will be specified as 15 mils nominal after forming many manufacturers simply utilize heat and vacuum to form the sheets as this is the least costly technique and the most rudimentary to operate and maintain.
These features are typically needed to allow for part strength retention of material thickness and or esthetics.
Because the plastic is fairly low density it is easy to work with small hand tools.
Engineers often do not really understand plastic forming processes.
Thermoforming is the forming of heated plastic on a mold to create a desired shape.
Vacuum forming plastic choices styrene high impact poly styrene hips generally the best version of thermoforming plastic for modelers.
Vacuum forming material selection guide.
The thicker the plastic the stronger but the less detail.
The thermoforming process requires a critical forming temperature window and all of our forming machinery utilizes precision electronic controls for maintaining part to part consistency.
Often confused with injection molding and rotational molding thermoforming processes are.
The key to good part design in thermoforming is understanding the need for a proper size radius or chamfer.
All thermoforming techniques are stretching processes.
