Thermoforming: Materials Characterization, Material Modeling, and Simulation for Better Process Outcomes
Free, One-hour Webinar
Thermoforming, blow molding, and extrusion molding are widely used manufacturing processes for creating complex geometries from thermoplastic materials. These processes use heat, force, and pressure to shape the materials into complex, fully-featured parts. Using FEA to design your process and mold can increase your chances of defect-free parts and first article success stories. Common failure modes, like excessive thinning, tearing, and stress whitening are rooted in the underlying materials science of thermoplastics — including their temperature-dependent mechanical behavior, strain-rate sensitivity, and deformation-induced microstructural changes. This webinar presents a materials science-grounded framework for understanding how these defects arise, how to predict process and part performance, and early process optimization with a rigorous engineering workflow.
We will walk attendees through the complete workflow from mechanical characterization to predictive finite element simulation. We will cover the design of material testing protocols appropriate for the thermoforming process; the selection and calibration of constitutive models that capture the large deformations necessary for thermoforming; thermally dependent behavior; and the implementation of calibrated models in FE simulations. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how materials science, experimental testing, and simulation work together to improve part quality and process yield.
Details
Course Instructors
Dr. Sean Teller is a Principal at Veryst Engineering. Dr. Teller has extensive experience in testing and modeling the mechanical behavior of materials, combination products, and medical devices. His expertise includes measuring the response of materials and products, simulating product and process performance, and failure analysis. Dr. Teller earned his Ph.D. from Brown University in Solid Mechanics, with research on high frequency and nonlinear viscoelasticity.
Dr. Scott Grindy is a Lead Engineer at Veryst Engineering. Dr. Grindy's expertise is in the design of functional polymeric materials through materials chemistry and structure. He has worked extensively with polymeric materials such as soft hydrogels, thermoplastics, photo-curing systems, and biodegradable polymers. Dr. Grindy has experience using both mechanical characterization and analytical methods analyze materials in areas such as drug delivery, implantable biomedical devices, adhesives, and consumer products to understand how material structure and chemistry drives performance.
Registration
The August 18, 2026 Thermoforming: Materials Characterization, Material Modeling, and Simulation for Better Process Outcomes web-based course is free, but registration is required and class size is limited.
If you have any questions, please email us at seminars@veryst.com
Deadline for registration is: Monday, August 17, 2026.
Learning Objective
By the end of the class, you will be able to:
- Describe the chemical structure of thermoplastic materials used in thermoforming and understand how changes in material structure drive processability and performance
- Design a test program for a material used in thermoforming applications
- Create an FEA simulation of a thermoforming process
Cancellation Policy
Veryst reserves the right to reject registrations and to cancel a webinar based on class size.
Important Information
* You will receive an email confirmation once you have completed your registration.
* You will receive an email with login information the day before the webinar.