PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2014

PREFORM PRODUCTION 28 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 04/14 www.petpla.net Introduction to preform design PET preforms By Dr Laura Martin, formerly with Husky Injection Molding Systems and Ottmar Brandau, Apex Container Tech Inc. There is probably no subject in the PET industry shrouded in more mystery than the design of preforms. There is no handbook, no course, and very little other material that a prospective preform designer may peruse to get prepared for the job. The main reason is that preform design is still a “black art”, and no calculation or simulation can guarantee a perfectly suitable preform for a given bottle design and blow machine. PETplanet insider is publishing extracts from successive chapters of Ottmar Brandau’s “Bottles, Preforms and Clo- sures”, which was first published by hbmedia. A newly revised version is reissued under the Elsevier imprint.