I am looking for a method of thermo
I am looking for a method of thermo
(OP)
I am looking for a method of thermo forming injection molded TPE/TPU tubing. If there is a viable method of performing this post molding, an expensive action can be eliminated from the tooling (mold).






RE: I am looking for a method of thermo
I'd contact the manufacturer of the tubing and get their advice. If you get a cold shoulder, you might contact suppliers of the raw resins. Finally, nothing beats the try it and see method.
RE: I am looking for a method of thermo
RE: I am looking for a method of thermo
Probably the biggest issue for the thermoforming process is getting the moisture back out of the molded part after it's sat around awhile, and then getting the preheat oven set "just right". But I would assume that the heated tube could be laid into a suitable heated mold, mold closed, and then shoot air into the tube i.d., cool mold and hold, open and extract part. We used to do similar with semi-rigid TP tubing (PFA, PE, PP) to form various shapes. Keeping the tube from collapsing/stretching at the forming temperature prior to and during mold insertion can be tricky - we used to seal one end and apply a slight "holding pressure" with air during handling and inserting the preheated part into the mold.