Large panels, housings, enclosures, and similar parts are especially well suited to the thermoforming process.
Tooling costs for these parts is considerably less than injection molding, which may have prohibitive tooling costs.
Parts with features mostly confined to one side of the part are best suited to thermoforming with trimming, fabrication and assembly processes to address features on the uncontrolled surfaces of the part. Many pressure formed parts are developed for housings for medical and electronic equipment and can have EMI/RFI shielding applied on the interior surface to comply with UL electromagnetic emissions requirements
Types of Plastic Used For Large Part Thermoforming
Plastics that lend themselves best to thermoforming are:
- Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene Copolymer (ABS)
- High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS)
- High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)
- High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (HMWPE)
- Polypropylene (PP), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
- Polyethylene Terephthalate Modified (PETG)
Many other available materials accommodate U/V exposure, UL Flammability, High Temperature, Anti-Static and Anti-Microbial properties.
Machined aluminum tools are typically built for shallow parts with small draw ratios.
Plastics Design & Manufacturing uses 6061-T6 aluminum for the construction of these molds, which can be held to very close tolerances. These tools are then mounted on a temperature-controlled base to control the tool temperature during the forming process.
Male or female tools and vacuum-form or pressure-form tools can be machined aluminum tools. Tools can be textured and may offer features such as loose cores, pneumatic cores, and inserts.
Cast aluminum tools are cast at a foundry from a machined pattern made of composite material. The temperature controls are cast into the back and sides of the tools at the foundry. Cast aluminum tools typically are built for large parts with large draw ratios and may be male or female and vacuum-form or pressure-form. Features such as texture, loose and pneumatic cores, and inserts are available.
For prototyping and short production runs, cost-efficient composite materials are used for tool construction. These tools produce parts that are to be evaluated for fit, form and function and may be modified to evaluate possible design changes. Composite tools are used in vacuum forming only and have a limited life.
Check out our Design Guidelines for more information or Contact Us to discuss with a team member.