Dimensional Analysis of the Wear of 3D Printed Dies Used to Form PC and PVC Sheets by Thermoforming

Abstract

Polymers have been around for a while now, and for the time being they play a fundamental role in our society. As time passes, the number of polymer-based items increases. Thermoforming is a conventional polymer manufacturing process with high potential. This paper explores the surface quality of 3D printing dies after being used in a thermoforming process. A polylactic acid (PLA) die was printed using a Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) The polymeric blanks formed were Polycarbonate (PC) and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheets of 1.5 mm. The results reveal the effects of the temperature, the thermoforming process time and vacuum time on the wear of the top surface dis not surpass 1mm in the worst zone, and does not affect the polymeric formed sheets.