Plastic forming
Plastic forming is a type of thermal (heat) reshaping whereby the material is heated in a specific area and a ‘kink’ is made in it. This processing technique makes it possible to create products with multiple bends. A variant of this is cold forming or folding, which is suitable for polycarbonate and PETG.
Plastic setting: how it works
While the whole sheet is heated when bending plastic, with plastic forming, only a specific area is heated using filaments. For this technique, we make use of a line bending machine (bending bench), which allows large sheets with multiple fold lines to be processed in a single cycle. Each fold line is heated until the correct temperature is reached. The material is then bent to the desired angle. After cooling, the material retains the shape it was bent into. All thermoplastic synthetic materials can be moulded when heated.
We can form virtually any plastic sheet for you, up to a maximum length of 2500 mm, into which a maximum of four fold lines can be inserted in a single cycle. This is how we make U shapes, for example.
Cold forming or folding of plastic
Cold forming can also be applied to polycarbonate and PETG. With this technique, plastic sheets in their cold state are forced to bend to the desired angle on a press brake bench. After cooling, the sheet retains the shape it has taken.
Which materials are suitable?
We can form all thermoplastic synthetic materials for you, including:
- Acrylic / PMMA, also known as Plexiglas® and Perspex®
- Polycarbonate (PC), also known as Lexan®
- PETG
- PVC
Polycarbonate and PETG can also be formed when cold.
Machines / equipment
For moulding plastic sheets, we make use of an advanced line bending machine (bending bench). With this, we can insert a maximum of four folds in a plastic sheet in a single cycle, at an individually adjustable temperature. For cold forming, we use a hydraulic press brake bench, on which the material is forced into the desired angle.
Specifications
We can work with sheets up to a maximum of 2500 mm in length on our line bending machine. And with thicknesses of 30 mm or more. In a single cycle, we can insert a maximum of four folds at the desired angle. The radius of the curve that can be created depends on the type of material. We will be happy to advise you.
If you would like more information on plastic forming or to discuss the possibilities for your application, we will be happy to help you.