• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.5-10
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• 2018

Vacuum-assisted thermoforming is one of the critical steps for successful application of film insert molding(FIM) to parts of complex shape. In this study, the simulations and experiments of thermoforming processes were performed to investigate the effects of process conditions on thickness distribution and printed pattern deformation of films in vacuum-assisted thermoforming. The film thickness uniformity increased with decreasing film heating time, whereas it increased with increasing vacuum delay time. After thermoforming of films with uniform pattern space of 5mm, the maximum space was 9.432mm. Based on the simulation, a modified pattern was calculated to obtain uniform spaces after thermoforming. In the experiments for film with the modified pattern, the maximum space appeared 5.837mm. In, addition. the predicted patterns were in good agreement with the experimental results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.819-820
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• 2008

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.171-177
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• 2013

Vacuum-assisted thermoforming is one of the critical steps for successful application of film insert molding (FIM) to make parts of complex shape. If the thickness distribution of the formed film is non-uniform, then cracking, deformation, warpage, and wrinkling can easily occur at the injection molding stage. In this study, the simulation of thermoforming was performed to predict the film thickness distribution, and the results were compared with experiments. Uniaxial tensile tests with a constant crosshead speed for various high temperatures were conducted to investigate the stress-strain behavior. An instance of yielding occurred at the film temperature of $90^{\circ}C$, and the film stiffness increased with increasing crosshead speed. Two types of viscoelastic models, G'Sell model, K-BKZ model, were used to describe the measured stress-strain relationship. The predicted film thickness distributions were in good agreement with the experimental results.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.250-256
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• 2011

Vacuum-assisted thermoforming is one of the critical steps for the successful application of film insert molding(FIM) to parts of complex shapes. If the thickness distribution of the formed film is non-uniform, cracking, deformation, warping, and wrinkling can easily occur at the injection molding stage. In this study, the effects of processing parameters, which include the film heating time, plug depth, plug speed and vacuum delay time, on film thickness distribution were investigated. It was found that the film thickness at the part sidewall decreases with increasing the film heating time and plug depth, but the thickness at the bottom was found to exhibit the opposite behavior. The film thickness of the sidewall was observed to increase at higher plug speed and vacuum delay time of 0 ~ 0.3sec.

• 한국금형공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.69-73
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• 2008

본 연구에서는 고분자 플라스틱 부품의 친환경 외장성형공법인 Insert Film 사출성형공법중 첫 번째 공정인 진공성형공정에서 진공금형의 표면온도 균일화 기술에 대해 연구를 수행하였다. 진공금형의 온도분포 균일화를 위한 금형설계 및 설계된 금형에 대한 온도분포 평가를 위한 ANSYS를 이용한 유한요소열해석을 수행하였으며, 이때 정상상태 및 과도상태를 함께 평가하였다. 설계 결과를 바탕으로 금형을 제작하였으며, 생산성을 고려하여 4캐비티로 제작된 금형에 대해 금형표면의 온도분포 평가실험을 수행하였다. 또한 금형내 캐비티 온도센서 및 제어시스템을 설치하여 진공금형표면 온도분포가 항상 일정하게 유지될 수 있도록 금형시스템을 개발하였다. 결과적으로 일정한 온도범위의 금형표면온도제어가 가능하였다.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.771-777
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• 2014

Injection-compression molding was used for film insert molding of an automotive door grip using films with three-dimensional embossed patterns. A vacuum mold was fabricated for vacuum-assisted thermoforming of the film, and an injection-compression mold was developed for film insert molding. Three pressure transducers were installed inside the mold cavity to measure cavity pressures. Injection-compression molding experiments under various compression strokes and toggle speeds were performed to investigate their effects on the cavity pressure and heights of the embossed patterns. The compression stroke of 0.9mm and low toggle speed resulted in a higher degree of conservation of embossed patterns. Additionally, the processing conditions for the maximum heights of embossed patterns were almost similar to those for minimum integral value of cavity pressures. The injection-compression molding process presents the opportunity to impart a soft-touch feeling of plastic parts printed with embossed patterns.