Thermoforming semicrystalline plastics

Some thermoformable thermoplastics are semicrystalline. In addition to glass transition temperatures, these plastics melt at specific temperafiires. PEs and PPs are examples of thermoformable semicrystalline plastics. Semicrystalline plastics, such as PEs are normally thermoformed at temperafiires just above their melting temperatures as elastic liquids. 

When a semicrystalline plastic is heated and formed above its melting temperature range, it must be recrystallized on the thermoforming mold. The rate of recrystallization is important when... 

The plastic at its forming temperature can behave as an elastic solid, a viscoelastic fluid, or a combination of the two. Modeling of thermoforming has been done using all of these models. On a molecular scale, things are just as complex. For an amorphous material, such as polystyrene or PMMA, the forming temperature determines the chain mobility and the ease of flow. For semicrystalline materials, such... 

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