Plastic packaging can be found in our everyday life in the form of bottles, food containers, drinks, medicines, and more.
They are typically made on a mass scale with a process called blow molding, where hot air is blasted into a precisely calibrated metal mold, and the accompanying thermoplastic assumes the mold shape after waiting.
Traditionally, machined metal molds are used because of the heat and pressure inherent in the blow molding process. But they usually take a long time to produce and at high costs.
For short runs, however, 3D printed blow molds using Stratasys PolyJet and FDM technologies offer an opportunity to prototype at reduced cost and development time, as well as do quick design validation.
Modifications to designs – including bottle caps, snaps, and hinges – can be easily and inexpensively made, and these prototypes can be used to check form, fit and function.
Plasel Precision Plastics, a global leader in plastic packaging, used Stratasys 3D printing technology to create a blow mold for a run of 100 package prototypes and managed to reap huge savings in time and cost.
Download the White Paper to learn more about blow molding with Stratasys 3D printing technologies.
