The clarity of the details of the product

The clarity of the detail of the product is understood as the precision with which the profile of the molding die is molded, and the standard is to look at the corners and surface structures (leather and wood textures) with a very small radius of the contact surface with the mold. The clarity of detail is affected by the following factors:
• Types of plastics
• Sheet thickness
• Molding temperature in the direction of molding sheet thickness
• Forming forces in pressure or vacuum forming systems
• Molding mold temperature
• Vents for molding molds
• Draft rate
HIPS, PP, PE, ABS and PPE are all plastics that can be molded into products with good clarity. PC, APET and some grades of PVC can only achieve sufficient clarity under certain conditions.
Sheet thickness determines the design and detail accuracy of the thermoforming die. Table 2-2 and Figure 2-10 show the relationship between them.
The higher the molding temperature selected, the better the precision of the details. Only for crystalline plastics, such as APET and CPET, is an exception. If the thickness of the material is more than 4mm, in order to obtain better detail clarity, it is necessary to have sufficient heating of the material. If necessary, the heating intensity can be reduced and the heating period can be extended.
The greater the molding force, the easier it is to achieve high definition. Please note: For many plastic materials, the lack of forming force of the machine (such as vacuum forming) can be compensated by higher forming temperatures. The above criteria also apply to the situation where the area draft is 4:1 or the molding aspect ratio is 1:2. With greater drafting at high temperatures, it is difficult to obtain a uniform wall thickness.
The higher the temperature of the thermoforming mold, the better the detail clarity. As far as pressure molding is concerned, the low mold temperature can be compensated by increasing the molding pressure. This method is usually used to form OPS sheets, which cannot be used to obtain better product details.
If the sheet is to be molded into a part with an engineered surface structure, the mold must be heated to close to the glass transition temperature of the material.
A well-vented mold can achieve higher detail clarity. When the air is wrapped in the surface or structure of the mold, the depth of the structure on the molded product will become shallow and the surface will be smooth.
The greater the overall draft, the worse it is for high definition. As far as thermoforming is concerned, the molded plastic will still remain elastic and is not fully plasticized, so it has the characteristics of a rubber sheet. In order to make the product get better detail clarity, as the overall draft increases, the molding force required is greater.