SPE Thermoforming Quarterly - SPE Thermoforming Division

Thermoforming Quarterly is a journal published quarterly by the Thermoforming Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers. The magazine is a great way to keep up with industry trends and developments. SPE Thermoforming Division members receive the magazine by mail four times a year. Non-members can access old issues here via PDF file. If you are not an SPE member this is a great reason to join! Become a member today to start receiving this valuable information in your mailbox.

We welcome objective, technical and related articles that provide valuable information to our community of thermoformers, toolmakers, material suppliers and OEMs. Articles are typically 1500-2000 words. We recommend viewing past articles for further guidance. All submissions should be in MS Word, 12-pt Times New Roman.

Artwork, illustrations, photos and graphics should be 300 dpi. We prefer .eps .jpeg and .pdf files

2026 Deadlines for content and artwork: First Quarter: February 15; Second Quarter: May 15; Third Quarter: August 15; Fourth Quarter: November 15.

Digital TQ Sponsorship Opportunities – NEW

Contact Megan Uphaus at muphaus@thermoformingdivision.com for more information.

Fourth Quarter 2025

Toward Standardized Material Constants for Predictive Thermoforming

Thermoforming, unlike metals processing, uses polymers whose properties are not fixed but instead are time- and temperature-dependent. Whereas metals can often be described by a handful of universal constants—elastic modulus, yield strength, thermal conductivity—polymers are inherently viscoelastic. Their behavior during sheet heating and forming varies with temperature, strain rate, and material history.

This presents a challenge: can we define ‘material constants’ for polymers in thermoforming? Not in the classical sense. Instead, thermoforming engineers and researchers have sought to identify quasi-constants or standardized parameters that, within defined conditions, enable prediction, comparison, and simulation.

The search for ‘material constants’ in thermoforming reflects a broader effort to make polymers as predictable as metals in processing. While true universal constants do not exist, researchers and industry players have converged on sets of indices, empirical parameters, constitutive constants, and adaptive digital twin models that increasingly enable prediction.

From Don Hylton’s Thermoforming Index to Simularge’s digital twin, the field has evolved along a continuum of sophistication. The next logical step is to unify these efforts into a shared, global, simulation-ready database of thermoforming constants. Such a resource would reduce cost and waste, accelerate innovation, and empower converters to meet the demands of circular economy packaging with confidence.

K2025 Summary

K2025 is in the books, and it delivered a wealth of knowledge in an economy of time. What this event reveals is that the size, scale, and sheer diversity of the plastics industry make it difficult to find a uniform narrative. The mood was therefore mixed, with plastics recyclers continuing to struggle with price and regulatory pressures, and machinery builders still pushing the boundaries of AI-enhanced technologies. Material (resin) suppliers are both contributing to and navigating through a glut of supply in commodity markets while engineered or specialty resins still command premiums in highly-diversified and segmented sectors, from aerospace to automotive to medical to chip manufacturing. Bio-based materials continue to evolve, though slowly, with scale-up and prices posing challenges to wider market adoption.

Though K is primarily a machinery / technology show, two significant developments in product design stood out in Hall 3: the Origin thermoformed PET bottle cap and the clear, heat resistant CPET tray from Thermapet. In both cases, the thermoforming process enabled a breakthrough in recycling: in the case of Origin (see TQ3 2025 for detailed story), a PET closure now means, among other things, that PET and PE don’t have to be separated; for Thermapet (see cover story on TQ4 2024), the creation of a clear CPET trays eliminates the problems associated with black trays in recycling streams. OMG of Italy is the exclusive technology parter of Thermapet.

Complete articles are published in the magazine and mailed to SPE Thermoforming Division Members.

2025