| In the thermoforming process, many assist processes exist. Such as, preblow, plug-assist and so on. Manipulating the assist process, satisfied thickness distribution could be obtained, but it's not always the case, optimization process is necessary. The more the assist process employed, the heavier the optimization process is. In addition, the cost and the circle time can be increased due to the introducing of the assist processes. Therefore, before introducing the assist processes, it's also important to evaluate the necessity of them.
Four kinds of simulation with different assist processes were conducted to show you the possibilities of the code. In the case one, the simple vacuum forming, which is a standard method of the thermoforming, was simulated. In the case two, a plug-assist process, in which a plug is employed to stretch the material downward before the vacuum process, was simulated. In the case three and four, a preblow-plug-assist method, in which a preblow is applied before the plug-assist process, was simulated. |
