Thermoforming and blow moulding

Sheets of mineral-filled LCP materials have been used for thermoforming and electroplating for printed circuit boards. During the fabrication, calendering rolls have to be placed close to the die. The stiffness of the sheets requires a spool with a diameter about 200 times the thickness of the product. 

Biaxially oriented products have been made by extrusion blow moulding using a die temperature below the melting temperature. However, the biaxial orientation as well as the properties vary through the thickness of the product and depend strongly on the thermomechanical conditions of the process. For LCP materials with slow crystallization rates, blow moulding in the supercooled state represents a possible method of obtaining multidimensional properties.  

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The high melt strength, facilitating thermoforming and blow moulding techniques. 

Thermoforming and blow moulding used for meat trays and bottles, with a low MFR (Melt Flow Rate) (1 to 4) ... 

PVDF can be processed by all the conventional molten-state methods, such as extrusion, injection, compression, transfer, rotational and blow moulding, thermoforming and centrifugal processes. It can be also processed by powdering and dispersion applications. 

A common way to increase the bending stiffness of products from melt-inflation processes is to use corrugations. It is not possible to create ribbed shapes, described in the next section, because there is no independent control of the shape of the inner surface of the melt. Corrugations are seen on thermoformed products, blow-moulded bottles and extruded pipes. 

Foam production is compatible with injection and compression moulding, extrusion, thermoforming, rotational and blow moulding, and with the spread coating of PVC. 

In 2009, a facility capable of manufacturing 10,000 tonnes/year of PBS and its copolymers was constructed by Hexing Chemical (tradename Hexing PBS). The facility can manufacture resins for extrusion, injection, moulding, thermoforming and blowing grade [41]. 

PLA can be processed by extrusion, thermoforming, injection, blow moulding, fibre spinning or stretehing. It is printable and heat sealable. The actual or potential applications are found in the crop and food sectors (films, food packaging, soft drinks) and for non-woven materials in hygienic products. The properties of biocompatibility and of bioresorption of PLA permits the development of suture threads and ehps, orthopaedic fixations (screws, pins) and of resorbable implants (Clarinval, 2002). Some of the main products are given below. 

Uses reported include motor housings for portable fans, food blender bases, tape storage housings, tough, clear toys, injection blow moulded products and thermoformed packages. 

Blow moulded and sheet thermoformed products for food, personal care, health, medical and lab ware applications, household chemicals and beauty aid products. .. 

The main markets for PLA are thermoformed trays and containers for food packaging and food service applications. Other developing areas include films and labels, injection stretch blow moulded bottles and jars, specialty cards and fibres. 

The main types of NatureWorks PLA that are available for packaging applications include general purpose film grades, extrusion coating, extrusion and thermoforming grades and injection stretch blow moulding. 

FKuR also introduced Biograde 200C in 2005, an unfilled cellulose blend with high stiffness and transparency for cast film and injection moulding. The material can also be blow moulded into bottles and thermoformed into cups and trays. Injection moulded Biograde 200C exhibits properties comparable to polystyrene, but with the addition of barrier performance comparable to PLA. It consists of 100% renewable resources, but does not contain starch. 

PLA is also used for thermoformed trays and containers. Injection stretch blow moulded bottles and jars for short-shelf-life applications that use cold-filling techniques for contents such as still water, fresh juices, dairy beverages and edible oil is also a potentially interesting market for PLA. 

Vertex business is divided into six categories Technical Components, Dairy, Industrial Containers, Household Products, Food Trays and Securefresh. Processes include rigid blow-moulded containers for industrial, household, chemical and agricultural products extruded sheet and thermoformed containers for food manufacturers, kiwifruit and horticultural products disposable and point-of-sale packaging for the food service sector and injection-moulded components for human and animal health products. 

As already stated, there are many different methods of processing plastics, according to the material used and the desired finished product. Plastics are wonderful materials for shaping. They can be made into flat sheets, or they can be reinforced with fibres. They can be blow moulded and made into hollow objects such as drinks bottles, or they can be thermoformed for making food cartons. There is a variety of processes for the different synthetic plastics, but all of them start with the required chemicals in pellet, powder or liquid form. These are melted, mixed with additives, heated and shaped. 

Major applications Available as film, foam, tubes, pipes, thermoform, blow moulding and extruded mouldings. ... 

In the cooling stage of processing, the product must completely solidify before the mould can be opened. Figure A.4 in Appendix A shows the dimensionless temperature profiles at different times since the start of cooling. Products cooled from both sides, such as injection mouldings, cool faster than products of the same thickness (extruded pipe, blow moulded and thermoformed) where one side is effectively thermally insulated. The temperature profiles are given in terms of the Fourier number, a dimensionless time defined by Eq. (A.26) as... 

In a number of processes, air pressure is applied to a bubble of polymer melt to change its shape. We will examine one continuous process—blown film production—and two cyclic processes—blow moulding and thermoforming. All of them involve some melt extensional flow with a resultant thinning of the bubble, and at least one side of the polymer solidifies without the constraint of contact with a mould. 

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