3-D Technology in blow moulding: A numerical simulation

A numerical simulation is presented for the analysis of 3-D technology in blow moulding process. The fluid parison is described by means of a membrane element whilst a Lagrangian formulation is used for the governing equations. The numerical algorithm is applied to the case of a bent, three-dimensionally shaped tube. The contact between the guided parison and moving mould parts is handled by a robust technique. Next to the description of the parison motion, we concentrate on the prediction of wall thickness and extension components evaluated in both machine- and cross-directions.