What Is Thermoforming?

What if we told you that there was a better way to create your plastic products? Would you be interested? Well, there is a plastic fabrication process that saves money, reduces waste and makes your creations into a reality. It’s called thermoforming.

Maybe you’ve heard of thermoforming before, or maybe this is a brand-new term for you. Either way, you probably still have questions. We want to help answer those questions by giving you an overview of plastic thermoforming in Utah.

What is it?

Thermoforming is a general term that refers to the process of transforming a plastic sheet into a three-dimensional shape by using heat, vacuum and pressure. In this process, sheets of plastic are heated until they are moldable. The sheets are then placed over a mold and a vacuum is used to suck or pull the sheet of plastic into the mold, forming the plastic sheet into the desired shape. Once the shape is formed, it’s allowed to cool and any excess is trimmed.

What is it used for?

Thermoforming can be used to create just about anything out of plastic. Plastic sheets can come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses, which means that the possibilities are endless. However, thermoforming is most often used to create packaging for food and other consumer goods. You can find thermoplastics in almost every industry. Thermoforming is also used to make car components, office equipment and gym equipment. You can even find thermoplastics in hospitals and medical offices. At D & D Plastics, we are proud to be able to use a process that offers the flexibility needed to turn our customers’ ideas into a reality.

What are the benefits?

As we briefly mentioned before, there are many advantages to utilizing thermoforming over other types of plastic fabrication. Here are a few for you to consider:

• Easy to create custom designs
• Fast turnaround time
• Inexpensive prototyping
• Cost effective
• Reduces waste
• Variety of colored and paintable plastics for customization
• Efficient

What are the benefits of thermoplastics?

Besides the benefits of the process of thermoforming, there are also several advantages to the end products themselves. Thermoplastics have a high tolerance for repeated activation and they can stand high temperatures, even up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit in some cases. Thermoplastics are also recyclable, which makes them good for the environment. Basically, thermoplastics combine a flexibility similar to rubber with a strength similar to aluminum, which makes them the ideal end product.

What materials are available?

While not all plastics can be used in thermoforming, there is still a wide range of plastic materials to choose from, including acrylic, vinyl, polycarbonate, polypropylene and more. Our experts at D & D Plastics can help you determine which material will best meet your needs.

If you were curious about thermoforming, hopefully this answered most of your questions. If you want to know more or are interested in starting your own thermoforming products, call D & D Plastics, your local source for plastic thermoforming in Utah. We look forward to working with you on your upcoming project!

Categorised in: Plastic Thermoforming

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