Software package and mathematical models of polymeric material heating and forming for quality analysis and control of multi-assortment hollow volume products

Abstract

We have developed a software package which uses mathematical models of the key stages of polymeric material thermoforming in order to solve quality analysis and control problems for axisymmetric hollow volume products. Those types of products are commonly used for packaging and vary in their configurations and geometric parameters. The software package includes modules for calculating state parameter fields for polymeric material at different stages of heating and forming, a module for calculating product quality indices, databases containing information about polymers, forming tools, and permitted control action ranges, modules for visualization of modeling results in form of 2D and 3D graphs of state parameter distributions, as well as visualizing 3D models of prepared material and product with coloring. The software package can be configured for various types of polymers and products. The package’s core consists of a library of configurable mathematical models. It includes models describing two-sided radiant (one and multi zone) heating polymeric materials, biaxial stretching of polymeric materials during mechanical forming, and diffusive permeability of penetrants of various types (water vapor, oxygen) through product walls. The package serves as an effective tool for supporting production personnel in analyzing cause-effect relationships for the control object, and determining control actions at key stages of thermoforming that ensure quality requirements (thickness, equal thickness, barrier characteristics) are met when dealing with multi-assortment products made of polymeric films and sheets.