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Experimental and numerical study on the thermoforming process of amorphous thermoplastic polymers

  • Olcay Ekşi , Sencer Süreyya Karabeyoğlu and Kenan Cinar
Published/Copyright: April 30, 2019
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Abstract

Thickness distribution has an important impact on the quality of thermoformed products. It has significant effects not only on durability but also on the oxygen and gas transmission rate of thermoformed packaging products. In this study, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polystyrene sheets were thermoformed using a lab scale thermoforming machine. Three different mold shapes were considered: conical, spherical and cylindrical. The thickness distribution of thermoformed acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polystyrene samples for each mold was investigated based on geometric element analysis (GEA) and finite element analysis (FEA). Finite element analysis yielded more accurate results than geometric element analysis. Process parameters such as temperature distribution on the sheets before molding, have a crucial effect on thickness distribution for all configurations.


Correspondence Address, Assistant Prof. Dr. Olcay Eksi, Mechanical Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Kırklareli University, Kayalı Campus, 39100 Kırklareli, Turkey, E-mail: ,

Assist. Prof. Olcay Eksi, born in 1981, received his PhD in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Trakya University in 2014. He is currently Assistant Professor at Kirklareli University, Kirklareli, Turkey. He works in the field of polymer processing.

Assist. Prof. Sencer Karabeyoglu, born in 1982, received his PhD at Namık Kemal University, Tekirdağ, Turkey in 2012. He is currently Assistant Professor at Kirklareli University, Kirklareli, Turkey. He works in the field of polymer processing.

Dr. Kenan Cinar, born in 1982, received his PhD in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Bogazici University; Istanbul, Turkey in 2014. He is currently Research Assistant in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Namık Kemal University, Tekirdağ, Turkey. He works in the field of process modeling of fiber reinforced composite materials.


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Published Online: 2019-04-30
Published in Print: 2019-05-02

© 2019, Carl Hanser Verlag, München

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