(upbeat music)
- [Instructor] Thermoforming is a set
of manufacturing techniques for processing plastic sheets.
It is a popular solution for producing a variety of products
from disposable food packaging and consumer goods
to heavy-duty structures and automotive components.
Thermoforming is a relatively simple process
that enables the production of medium
to large volumes of parts at an affordable cost.
However, traditional methods
of producing thermoforming tooling come with high cost
and long lead times.
With in-house 3D printing,
manufacturers and product designers
can fabricate tooling fast
and at a low cost to accelerate product development
and enable low-volume or custom production.
In this video, we'll cover the fundamentals
of thermoforming, and show how you can create
thermoforming molds quickly and cost-effectively
with 3D printing for prototyping, custom parts,
and small batch production.
Thermoforming Processes
Thermoforming processes heat and form sheets of plastic
onto a tool using vacuum, pressure, or mechanical forces.
Vacuum forming is the simplest, least expensive,
and most used of these techniques.
It works by heating and then pulling a sheet
of plastic around a single mold using suction.
It is ideal for parts
that only need to be precisely formed on one side,
such as contoured packaging
for food or electronics.
With pressure forming, the heated sheet of plastic
is forced into the tool with pressure,
which makes it possible to form complex
and intricate details and create parts
with a surface finish similar to injection molded parts.
Producing Thermoforming Molds With 3D Printing
Thermoforming molds are traditionally machined
out of aluminum, wood, or composite board.
When done in-house, these methods are labor-intensive
and require expensive equipment,
while outsourcing mold creation
comes with weeks of lead time and high costs.
Many businesses are turning to 3D printing
to create rapid tooling for thermoforming processes,
as it offers a fast turnaround at a low price point,
especially for shorter runs, custom parts,
and prototype designs.
Stereolithography, or SLA, 3D printing technology
is a great choice for molding.
It is characterized by a smooth surface finish
and high precision, that the tool will transfer
to the final part, and that also facilitates demolding.
3D printing also offers unmatched design freedom
to create complex and intricate molds,
including small features and holes,
for an even better vacuum distribution across the surface.
Here's an example of a thermoforming workflow
with a Formlabs 3D printer:
First, design the tool in CAD, adhering to the general rules
for thermoforming mold design.
Then choose the right material
from our expansive materials library
and 3D-print the part on a Formlabs 3D printer.
Use Draft Resin for a quick turnaround,
Grey Resin for the smoothest surfaces,
and Rigid 10K Resin for challenging forming conditions,
such as higher temperatures,
or for producing series with short cycle times.
Next, insert the 3D printed mold
into the thermoforming machine
and use it in your normal workflow.
Once it cools off, remove the thermoformed part,
trim off the excess material,
and post-process the part as needed.
Let's see some examples of how innovative companies
have been using molds and patterns
produced with Formlabs 3D printers for thermoforming.
Product development firm Glassboard
leverages the printing speed of Draft Resin
to quickly produce molds
and thermoform polycarbonate prototypes
such as helmet shells or packaging.
They can achieve complicated mold shapes
that would be difficult to manufacture traditionally.
Cosmetics manufacturer Lush used to craft the master molds
for their hugely popular products by hand.
But recently, they turned to 3D printing
to create vacuum forming molds
for detailed and textured designs,
which allows them to take ideas from concept
to reality in under 24 hours,
and test more than a thousand designs each year.
The product development team at Quip uses 3D printed molds
and vacuum forming to prototype packaging
for electric toothbrushes and accessories.
The research center IPC tested the viability
of thermoforming thick sheets of Polystyrene and ABS
for the production of automotive components.
With a tool printed in Rigid 10K Resin,
they formed dozens of parts while respecting a cycle time
close to production.
They cut costs by more than a half
and reduced lead time from 21 days to 3.5 days
compared to traditional methods.
3D printed thermoforming molds
are also ideal for cost-effectively manufacturing
custom parts.
For example, vacuum forming over 3D printed models
is the go-to method for producing clear aligners
in orthodontics.
Using 3D printed patterns to vacuum form food molds,
such as custom chocolate molds,
it's also possible to add a level of detail
and customization to sweet treats,
previously only available to skilled artisans.
Combine rapid tooling with thermoforming
and bring your production to the next level
with in-house 3D printing, powered by Formlabs.