SPE Thermoforming Quarterly®
Second Quarter 2021
Influence Of Plug Roughness On The Wall Thickness Distribution In Plug-Assisted Thermoforming
Thermoforming enables the cost-effective production of thin-walled packaging products. Pre-stretch plugs are used to adjust the resulting wall thickness distribution of the formed parts such as cups. Due to the friction and adhesion of the plastic material to the pre-stretch plug, the material is less stretched in areas having contact to the plug than in areas without contact and accordingly the wall thickness distribution is influenced…
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Moving Toward ‘Widely Recycled’
Consumer guidance from the recycling industry often goes something like this: “If you are not sure if something is recyclable, don’t put it in the recycling bin – because it’s better to not recycle than to attempt to recycle a contaminant.” That advice is critically important for protecting the materials that have well-developed and cost-effective routes of flowing through the recycling stream. But it also raises a dilemma when trying to bolster recycling of a material such as the PET thermoform, which holds great opportunity for…
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