Prediction of Extensions in 3-D Blow Moulding Simulation

A fluid membrane element is presented for the blow moulding simulation of a geometrically complex gas tank. A Lagrangian formulation of the equations is used. We concentrate on the prediction of extension components in both machineand cross-directions. The contact between parison and mould is handled by a robust algorithm which is also applied to moving moulds, for capturing the pinch-off. Next to the prediction of parison motion, thickness and extension distributions are typical simulation outputs.