10MPC012 POLYMER ENGINEERING VACUUM FORMING REPORT

1. The properties of amorphous thermoplastics are more favourable in vacuum forming over semi-crystalline thermoplastics. The graph on the left shows the plot of modulus v temperature of both types of thermoplastics. It is visible that the semi-crystalline has a higher modulus at low temperatures than amorphous thermoplastics. Increasing the temperature would cause the amorphous material to drop considerably and would exploit its rubber-like properties.

Amorphous materials (HIPs used in this experiment) mainly have an elastic response over a wide range of softening temperatures. Its also seen from the graph that not much a high temperature would be needed to turn the thermoplastic into its rubbery format (as opposed to in semi-crystalline materials). 2.

Figure 1

The above graph shows the thickness ratios z against the positions along the sample.

Figure 2

The above graph shows the radial dimension ratios x against the positions along the sample. 3. The thickness distribution varied for different forms of vacuum forming. a) Negative forming From figure 1 it is noticeable that extendable ratios of the negative runs formed a similar pattern to each other. It was found that the thickness of the sample increased as the position numbers increased (i.e. away from the centre point). The sample thickness at the centre became very thin after the procedure and obviously can lose its strength after it. b) Plug-assisted forming Again, it was visible from figure 1 that the plugassisted runs thickness increased away from the centre. However near the centre, the thickness values were greater than the runs without the plug. This shows that using the plug can help maintain the materials rigidity and strength after the vacuum forming procedure. The distribution of thickness is steadier across the material positions as opposed to the negative forming thicknesses. 4.
Heatin g time for forming 0.8 1.1 Vol after forming Vol after heating 34.39 79.84 % recovery

241.59 241.19

85.76513929 66.89746673

The table above shows the % recovery of runs 1 & 2. Run 1 has a higher % recovery than run 2, which also had a lower heating time than run 2. Amorphous polymers work best in its elastic response which occurs 30-60C above Tg. Run 1 had a heating time at

146C compared with 168C for run 2. This shows that there was a smaller change in volume for the higher heating time in run 2. Heat reversion occurs when the polymer is heated at a temperature above the Tg, so this affects its viscoelastic behaviour.

Thermoforming involves a biaxial deformation of a molten polymer. At the forming temperature, the polymer should possess a strong viscous component that allows for flow when sufficient stress is applied, and a significant elastic component to resist flow and impart integrity. As formability of a material is defined by the combination of these two properties, it is only logical to conclude that the optimal conditions for thermoforming must occur at a temperature corresponding to the material's transition from a solid-rubber state to a viscous-liquid state. Conversely, the further the forming temperature is from the transition temperature, the more difficult the forming will be.