Thermoforming J_tf202/J_tf505 Thermoforming is the art and engineering of heating a plastic sheet to a forming condition, stretching it against a mold surface, cooling it, and trimming the formed part from its web. J_tf202 the straightforward prediction of heating times for plastic sheet. The material property database includes the 34 polymers given in Technology of Thermoforming, J.L. Throne,Hanser 1996. The geometric data include sheet thickness, spacing between heaters, and sheet dim- ensions. The thermal data include top and bottom heater temperatures, convection heat transfer coefficients, initial and final sheet temp- eratures, and sheet and heater emissivities. The output data yield the time required to reach a target temperature, such as average sheet temperature and the temperature profile through the sheet at that time. The prediction of heating times for plastic sheet, where the sheet and the heater surfaces are partitioned into NxM elements, thus allowing for individual temperatures for each heater element. This program mirrors pattern or zonal heating. This approach is much more accurate than the lumped view factor used in TF202. However, computational times increase substantially. The input data are essentially the same as for TF202, except for the adjustable heater element temperatures. Program TF501 is a simplistic program that allows for some degree of optimization of the heat fluxes prior to running TF505. Running times for TF505 are on the order of an hour on Pentium Pro PCs.

Current Version:   N/A License Type:   Commercial

Home Site: http://www.foamandform.com/software.phtml Source Code Availability:   No Available Binary Packages: Debian Package:   No RedHat RPM Package:   No Other Packages:   ?? Targeted Platforms: Windows 3.XX/95/NT, Linux and UNIX Software/Hardware Requirements: Need Java for Linux/UNIX

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