Thick sheet thermoforming is particularly suitable for the mass production of products because it achieves fully automated operation from raw materials to finished products, resulting in high efficiency and stable quality. However, in terms of product size, it is limited by the machine and can only produce products of specified dimensions. This article summarizes some knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of thick sheet thermoforming.

In the packaging manufacturing industry, unless you use cardboard as a packaging material, there is no other processing method that can compete with it. The main advantage of thick sheet plastic processing is its engineering economy. Composite sheets, foamed sheets, and printed sheet products can be formed, and the mold can be replaced appropriately to replace thick sheet plastic processing and forming machines. Products with very thin walls can be blister-packaged using thick sheets with high melt viscosity, while injection molding with the same wall thickness requires granules with low melt viscosity. For a small number of plastic parts, favorable mold costs are another advantage of thick sheet thermoforming, while for large quantities of parts, it is very advantageous for products to achieve very thin wall thicknesses and high output rates of thermoforming machines.

Thick sheet thermoforming can produce products as small as packaging for watch pills or batteries, and as large as 3 ~ 5m long garden pools. The thickness of the forming material can be 0.05 to 15 millimeters, and the thickness of the foamed material can reach 60 millimeters. Any thermoplastic or material with similar properties can be blister-packaged.

Thick sheet thermoforming requires cutting the sheet, which produces waste. This waste can be crushed and mixed with the original material to be made into sheets again. In recent years, recycling waste generated in thick sheet blister packaging has become increasingly important. Nowadays, crushing scraps and mixing them with raw materials has become a recycling process. Discarded plastic molded products, such as packaging materials and even engineering products, can be recycled under many conditions, but some still need to be developed. Currently, some chemical and energy materials can be recycled. To make a breakthrough in recycling, efforts must be made to make the processing process ecological and economical.

Disadvantages of thick sheet thermoforming: 1、 Only one side of the sheet is in contact with the thermoforming mold, so only one side is consistent with the geometric dimensions of the thermoforming mold; the outline of the other side of the product must be drawn. 2、 The high-cost thick sheet thermoforming material is a sheet with a thickness of 0.05 ~ 15 mm These sheets are semi-finished products made from granules or powders. Therefore, compared with injection molding, the raw materials for plastic molding will increase additional costs.