Surface quality and shape accuracy of multi-point warm press forming Corian sheets

Abstract

The advantages of multi-point warm press forming Corian sheet are fewly studied. In this study, the principle of multi-point warm press forming process and the geometrical relationship between multi-point punch elements and objective surface were firstly illustrated. The multi-point CAD/CAM software was used for punch height calculation and punch location adjustment. The effects of elastic cushion, forming temperature and forming force on the forming accuracy, were studied through multi-point warm press forming experiments. Then, the Corian sheets for spherical and saddle-shaped parts based on suitable forming parameters were formed through multi-point warm press forming process, and the shape errors between experimental parts and objective ones were compared. The high surface quality and shape accuracy of both spherical and saddle-shaped parts were obtained at 165 °C with the forming force of 100 kN. It confirms that the multi-point warm press forming process is feasible for manufacturing Corian sheets.