Cold Forming Plastic Sheet
For thicker sheets it will take longer and for thinner sheets it will take less time.
Cold forming plastic sheet. Cold forming plexiglas sheet can be cold formed bent at room temperature in a smooth arc and held to a radius by forcing the material into a curved channel support. Sheet too hot. This article uses a sheet about 1 4 thick so all times are about 10 to 15 minutes per step. Modify the timing as necessary.
Thick thinned in the bent areas along the circumference and wrapped into a rectangle with radiused corners. The recommended radius of curvature should be a value greater than 180 times the thickness of the sheet for plexiglas g sheet and 300 times the thickness for plexiglas mc sheet see table below. Uneven heating check heaters screen hot areas. I am forming plastic not metal but i am applying metal bending principles to my application after a few years of iteration we have developed an accurate flat pattern method for our tank bending operations.
Our tanks are formed from sheet stock typically 0 25 in. The only major variable that can affect the forming process is the thickness of the plastic sheet. Incomplete part formation detail. Sheet too cold inadequate vacuum heat sheet for longer time period check vacuum system for leakage increase vacuum.
Uk educational supply center centre mindsets online sells variously sized 3mm thick sample sheets of eastman s spectar copolyester at not completely outlandish prices.