Numerical Investigation of the Gas Flow Temperature on the Thermoforming and Blow-Molding Processes

In this article, we consider a finite element approach for analysis of the effect of the air flow temperature on the forming of a thin, isotropic, and incompressible thermoplastic membrane. Also, to take into account the enclosed gas volume, responsible for inflation of the thermoplastic membrane, we considered a thermodynamic approach to express external work in terms of a closed volume. The dynamic pressure load is thus deduced from the van der Waals equation of state. The viscoelastic behavior of the K-BKZ model is considered. Numerical validation is performed by comparing the obtained results with the theoretical results for the HDPE grade. Moreover, the effect of the temperature of the gas on the thickness and stress distribution is presented.