• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
• /
• 2008.05a
• /
• pp.281-284
• /
• 2008

Film insert melding is one of the surface processes that enhances functional or aesthetic qualities of an existing product's surface. In general, film insert molding consists of three processes including thermoforming, trimming and injection molding. Thermoforming, which is the first process of film insert molding, is the most important process because the variation of film thickness has an effect on the mold design and process conditions for the subsequent processes, that are, trimming and injection molding. This study is focused on predicting the film thickness distribution through film insert thermoforming process using commercial FEM code. In order to describe rheological behavior of thermoplastic film (ABS), G'Sell's viscoelastic constitutive law was adopted. The numerical model of film insert thermoforming was established, and the simulation to predict film thickness distribution was performed. Comparison between the results of simulation and experiment was made to validate the proposed finite element analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.11
• /
• pp.953-960
• /
• 2015

The thermoforming process has been widely used to manufacture medium- and large-sized plastic parts because of the relatively low cost and high productivity, as compared with other plastic forming processes. One of current salient issues of thermoforming industries is the reduction of trial and error during the production of the thermoformed product. Hence, there is a significant increasing interest in the thermoforming analysis by the thermoforming industries. The goal of this paper is to investigate a methodology of the three-dimensional thermoforming analysis for medium- and large-sized plastic parts. There is a discussion about methodologies of thermoforming analysis, as well as material modeling, and three-dimensional finite element analysis. Furthermore, there is an examination, through case studies, about the applicability of the proposed methodology concerning the thermoforming analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.29 no.9
• /
• pp.946-957
• /
• 2012

The objective of this paper is to investigate into the development of a thin flat panel photo-bioreactor case with characteristics shapes. The thin flat panel photo-bioreactor case was designed to be manufactured from a plastic thermoforming process. A proper design with a relatively high rigidity was obtained through the structural analyses for different designs of the photo-bioreactor case. The thermoforming analyses were performed. From the results of the thermoforming analyses, a proper forming condition and the formability of the designed plastic photo-bioreactor case were estimated. The thermoforming moulds for the flat panel photobioreactor cases were manufactured. The thermoforming experiments were performed to examine the manufacturability of the designed flat panel photo-bioreactor cases. From the results of the thermoforming experiments, it was shown that thin flat panel photo-bioreactor cases with characteristic shapes can be manufactured from the designed thermoforming mould and process.

• Design & Manufacturing
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.5-10
• /
• 2018

Vacuum-assisted thermoforming is one of the critical steps for successful application of film insert molding(FIM) to parts of complex shape. In this study, the simulations and experiments of thermoforming processes were performed to investigate the effects of process conditions on thickness distribution and printed pattern deformation of films in vacuum-assisted thermoforming. The film thickness uniformity increased with decreasing film heating time, whereas it increased with increasing vacuum delay time. After thermoforming of films with uniform pattern space of 5mm, the maximum space was 9.432mm. Based on the simulation, a modified pattern was calculated to obtain uniform spaces after thermoforming. In the experiments for film with the modified pattern, the maximum space appeared 5.837mm. In, addition. the predicted patterns were in good agreement with the experimental results.

• Design & Manufacturing
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.52-56
• /
• 2023

In this study, numerical simulation of the thermoforming process of PVC film material was performed using PAMForm. For this purpose, tensile tests were performed at various temperatures and the coefficients of the G'Sell model were obtained and used. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the thickness decreased by up to 55% in the section where the film was in contact with the vertical direction and was greatly stretched. If the thickness is excessively thin, the part may become structurally weak, so in the thermoforming process, numerical simulation of the thickness in advance is expected to be helpful in successfully performing the process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
• /
• 2003.04a
• /
• pp.63-66
• /
• 2003

Thermoforming of fiber reinforced thermoplastic (FRTP) braided tubes was studied as a new forming technique. FRTP braided tubes with four plies are fabricated by the pressure bonding method are used in thermoforming. Bulge forming, bending process, pipe fittings and FE analysis are carried out in this study. In bulge forming the composite tube can be expanded up to about two times initial diameter. The suggested bending process can be obtained bent products with various bending radii. In pipe fitting it is possible to fabricate T-shape fitting, cross fitting and two-branch fitting. These results exhibit developed forming processes become useful processes for textile composite tubes.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.40 no.5
• /
• pp.505-511
• /
• 2016

The aim of this study is to investigate the thermoforming characteristics of an inner case with three refrigerator cavities using three-dimensional(3D) thermoforming analyses. We perform fundamental formability analyses using a 3D model of the mould for the inner case. We carry out tensile tests at the elevated temperature to examine the properties and characteristics of the thermoformed material. Then, we design sub-processes of the thermoforming process for the inner case. In addition, we develop suitable finite-element models for different sub-processes. We investigate the deformed shapes and thickness distributions of the inner case for different sub-processes using the results of the thermoforming analysis. Finally, we discuss the formability and thermoforming characteristics of the inner case with three cavities.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.816-822
• /
• 2001

The thermoforming process is widely used in the plastics industry to produce articles for the packaging, automotive, domestic construction and leisure industries. The microcellular foaming process appeared at M.I.T. in 1980s to save a quantity of polymer materials and increase their mechanical properties. The glass transition temperature of polymer materials is one of many important process variables in appling the microcellular foaming process to the conventional thermoforming process. The goal of this research is to evaluate the relation between gas absorption and glass transition temperature in batch process using microcellular foaming process. The weight gain ratio of polymer materials has a conception of gas absorption. Polymers such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene(ABS), polystyrene(PS) have been used in this experiment. According to conventional Chows model and Cha-Yoon model, it was estimated with real experimental result to predict a change of glass transition temperature as a function of the weight gain ratio of polymer materials in batch process to gain microcellular foamed plastic products.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2012.10a
• /
• pp.801-802
• /
• 2012

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
• /
• 2004.10a
• /
• pp.131-134
• /
• 2004

In this paper, a representative unit volume (RUV) model was employed to simulate thermoforming process of carbon fabric-polymeric foam sandwich structures. Thermoforming simulations, which capture crimp angles and amplitude changes of carbon fabric with respect to different types of foams under the operating pressure were conducted with the help of RUV model. Changed shapes of tow structure after thermoforming were reflected in the two dimensional to determine mechanical properties of skin parts, i.e_ carbon fabric composites after thermoforming. Bending simulations with respect to different foam systems as well as different moduli of carbon fabric composites were successfully carried out by using properties obtained from two-dimensional analyses.