The processability of industrial polymers was experimentally and numerically investigated. The heating temperature of ABS and HIPS sheets was systematically varied in order to determine the minimum sheet temperature required for vacuum forming onto two different cavity moulds with acceptable thickness variations. Finite element simulations of the process using hyperelastic and viscoelastic constitutive equations were also performed in order to analyze the models' ability to predict thermoformability of polymers. Prediction of minimum required sheet temperature as well as the part thickness distribution were compared to experimental measurements.
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