Although much research has been conducted to reduce the thickness of PET bottles in order to save manufacturing costs, the challenge remains of guaranteeing mechanical strength for top-loaded thin PET bottles. The current study investigates the large deformation characteristics of a circle shaped PET bottle and a square shaped PET bottle when compressively loaded using FEA. The arc length method is used in the nonlinear FEA to understand the buckling phenomenon. For PET bottles with the same capacity, the circle shaped bottle shows more resistance to buckling and compression loading than the square shaped bottle.

Recently, micro-speakers have attracted much attention due to their increasing demand in mobile devices. Micro-speakers use polymer diaphragms, which are manufactured from thin polymer film by the thermoforming process. The diaphragm is generally designed to be a circular membrane with a cross section consisting of a double dome structure, and a number of corrugations are located in the outer region to produce better sound quality. In the current study, a finite element (FE) analysis is performed for thermoforming, and the resulting thickness reduction in the corrugation regions is estimated. The estimated thickness distribution is used in further structural and modal FE analyses, from which the effects of local thickness reduction on the stiffness and vibration characteristics are determined.

The current study presents a simple setup method for making teeth models using a three-axis CNC milling machine. Physical teeth models can be made by several methods: casting, machining, and three-dimensional printing. Since the shape of a teeth model requires five-axis machining, the machining of a teeth model using a three-axis CNC milling machine requires careful setup operations. In this paper a simple datum shape is designed within the work piece of the teeth model. The datum shape is an n-sided prism with regular n-polygon ends and rectangular sides. In the present study a 12-sided prism is used, which easily makes 30 degree rotations for finish machining. The proposed setup approach does not require any special tools for making the teeth model using a three-axis CNC milling machine. A test was run and the results show that the proposed approach is useful for experimental makings with the limited facilities available.

The aspect ratio of a hole is defined as the ratio of the thickness to the diameter of the sheet metal. Most holes in the sheet metal industry are made by piercing. However, for thick sheets, which have an aspect ratio greater than 2, a machining process like drilling instead of piercing is usually used to make holes. In the current study, piercing, which is a shearing process, is evaluated to punch a hole with a high aspect ratio by using a newly designed die set-up. The piercing die was manufactured to prevent the punch from buckling and also to improve the alignment between the die components. An aluminum alloy sheet was selected for the experiments. The influence of several process parameters such as sheet thickness, clearance and stripping force were investigated. Experimentally, a hole with an aspect ratio of 5 was pierced. The resulting hole had a clean surface and the dimensional accuracy of pierced hole was considerably improved with decreasing clearance between punch and die. It is also shown that the larger penetration depth of the effective sheared surface can be achieved for high aspect ratio piercing relative to conventional piercing with a low aspect ratio.

The damage level of the die surface was predicted by estimating the surface roughness with a finite element analysis and the wear characteristics. Wear and friction tests were conducted to compare the wear characteristics for three kinds of surface treatments - CrN, TiAlN and AlCrN coatings. A prediction model was derived from the surface roughness results with respect to contact pressure and sliding speed which were obtained from the wear test. Surface roughness values for the damage regions of the die surface were compared between the experiments and the prediction model, which shows fairly good agreement with each other.

The deformation characteristics of a double round copper pipe and a single round copper pipe under biaxial compression were studied using a horizontal compression die. The change in punch load and in deformation behavior was measured during the experiments using various compressive deformation rates in the range of 10mm/min. ~ 450mm/min. The maximum punch load for both the double round copper pipe and the single round copper pipe decreased with increasing compressive deformation rate. The maximum punch load for the single round copper pipe was twice that of the double round copper pipe. After a 4.0mm stroke, the deformed shape of the single round copper pipe remained rectangular. However the outer tube of double round copper pipe remained rectangular while the inner tube was clover shaped. The stress and strain distributions in the double round copper pipe and the single round copper pipe show clear differences. The results of numerical simulations using Deform-2D are in good agreement with experimental results.

The light guide plate has become the major component for the backlight module in general information technology products (e.g. mobile phones, monitors, etc.). High speed injection molding has been adopted for thin walled LGP giving advantages such as weight, shape, size, and reduction in production costs. In the current study, the rheological characteristics of high liquidity plastic resin PC(HL8000) were measured using a capillary rheometer to improve the reliability of the numerical analysis for high speed injection molding. With the measured viscosity and PVT of PC(HL8000), numerical analysis of injection molding was conducted using the simulation software(Moldflow). Filling time and deflection were predicted and compared with those of traditional PC resins(H3000, H4000). The results show that PC(HL8000) has significantly different rheological characteristics during high speed injection molding. Hence proper properties of the resin should be used to improve the accuracy of numerical predictions.