Effects of production parameters on the vacuum formed product finish

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Rimowa is a leader in manufacturing of high-end polycarbonate and aluminum suitcases. The company uses an innovative manufacturing process that involves vacuum forming of heated polycarbonate sheet on to metallic moulds. Every year, Rimowa loses millions of dollars because of defective vacuum molded parts that have wrinkles and non-uniform thickness at the corners. The UW research team, with the support of the Engage grant, developed a finite element model of the entire Vacuum forming process using commercial finite element software Abaqus. Using this advanced model, the wrinkles that are seen in the finished products were recreated computationally. The goal of the current Engage Plus grant proposal is to investigate the solutions to the surface defects using the finite element model.